THE head of the Social Security Administration has spoken out on the fate of the government agency following rumors that it would be shutting down.
The Trump-appointed acting commissioner for the agency, working alongside DOGE to implement government cuts, clarified his directives for the SSA following criticism from a federal judge.
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Since his reelection in January, President Donald Trump has set out to reduce the size of the government and cut excess spending through the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, led by Elon Musk.
The pair have argued that Social Security fraud is widespread and that DOGE requires access to agency data to identify the fraudsters attempting to obtain benefit payments.
However, on Thursday, US district judge Ellen Lipton Hollander called out DOGE’s actions.
She ruled that the organization had likely violated privacy laws by providing Musk’s group with “unbridled access” to the private data of millions of Americans.
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“Defendants, with so called experts on the DOGE Team, never identified or articulated even a single reason for which the DOGE Team needs unlimited access to SSA’s entire record systems, thereby exposing personal, confidential, sensitive, and private information that millions of Americans entrusted to their government,” said the judge.
Hollander issued a court order that “serves the public interest” to pause detailed record-sharing between the SSA, led by acting commissioner Leland Dudek, and Musk’s DOGE team.
Dudek noted that the order would require him to limit agency data access for SSA employees, effectively shutting down the agency, he told media outlets including Bloomberg News and the Washington Post.
The judge, however, rejected his claim on Friday. “Such assertions about the scope of the order are inaccurate,” Hollander wrote in a letter to government counsel.
She said that the Thursday ruling clearly stated that DOGE would still have access to records when personally identifiable information, including as names and Social Security numbers, were censored.
Hollander emphasized that the court order explicitly outlined that SSA workers would still have access to the unredacted documents.
“Any suggestion that the order may require the delay or suspension of benefit payments is incorrect,” she said.
Following the judge’s assertions and criticism of the head of the SSA’s misinterpretation of the court orders, Dudek retracted his statements.
He spoke out saying that the court had clarified its ruling in a statement on Friday.
“Therefore, I am not shutting down the agency,” said Dudek. “SSA employees and their work will continue under the [temporary restraining order].”
What is DOGE?
The US DOGE Service Temporary Organization, also called the Department of Government Efficiency or DOGE, is an initiative created by President Donald Trump and led by billionaire Elon Musk.
DOGE was created to significantly reduce federal spending and “modernize federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity.”
When first introduced, it aimed to save as much as $2 trillion dollars annually.
The organization cited that it has already saved $65 billion in government spending, although the number has not been verified.
DOGE has already made significant cuts across multiple agencies, including the United States Agency for International Development, the Department of Education, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
FACING PUSHBACK
The confusion over the fate of the SSA under the Trump administration has led to much unrest among those who rely on the benefits.
Over 100 locals in White Plains, New York, including retirees and union members, gathered in a parking lot on Saturday to protest the shutdown of a local Social Security office.
George Latimer, a Democrat who serves as the area’s representative in Congress, was one of the politicians and union leaders present.
“Get Your Monstrous Hands Off Social Security” and “My Mother better get her check!” were among the messages that demonstrators had written on their signs.
As clarified by the federal judge, Social Security payments – worth up to $5,108 – will not be delayed or suspended.
However, the structure of the SSA itself will see major changes under the Trump administration.
For example, the agency is set to end a research program that will “save taxpayers $15 million.”
The SSA also plans to shutter dozens of offices this year – an expert has shared that Social Security payments could be in Americans’ pockets sooner with a very easy change from the Trump admin.
