Leland Dudek, the current acting commissioner of the Social Security Administration, recently disclosed in a now-deleted LinkedIn post that he had previously collaborated with Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency. This revelation came to light following his appointment to the leadership position within the agency.
Dudek assumed the role after Michelle King, a longstanding agency staffer, departed last weekend amidst disputes with DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) personnel over access to sensitive records pertaining to millions of Americans. Frank Bisignano, the CEO of Fiserv and President Donald Trump's nominee to head the Social Security Administration, is currently awaiting confirmation by the Senate.
Having a background in the agency's anti-fraud office, Dudek admitted to assisting DOGE in understanding the operations of the Social Security Administration. He mentioned in his post that he had provided publically accessible documents to DOGE and reallocated contractor funds to enhance data science resources within his anti-fraud team.
Elon Musk, the head of DOGE, commended Dudek for his collaboration efforts. However, Musk's recent inaccurate statement suggesting that deceased individuals are receiving Social Security benefits has sparked concerns among experts and consumer advocates.
In response to apprehensions regarding data security, Dudek clarified that DOGE personnel only have read access to the agency's systems and cannot make alterations to benefit payments or other critical information. He also emphasized that DOGE is restricted from accessing data related to court-ordered temporary restraining orders or future records.
Furthermore, Dudek highlighted that while there are individuals over the age of 100 without a recorded date of death in the system, it does not necessarily imply that they are actively receiving benefits.
The Social Security Administration has yet to provide a formal comment on the matter, underscoring the ongoing developments and implications of the collaboration between the agency and external entities.
