Yamiche Alcindor is an NBC News Washington correspondent.
Michelle King, the top official at the Social Security Administration, left her position this weekend after she refused a request from Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency to access sensitive government records at the agency, according to two sources familiar with the situation.
White House spokesperson Harrison Fields confirmed that King was no longer the head of the agency in a statement. “President Trump has nominated the highly qualified and talented Frank Bisignano to lead the Social Security Administration, and we expect him to be swiftly confirmed in the coming weeks. In the meantime, the agency will be led by a career Social Security anti-fraud expert as the acting commissioner. President Trump is committed to appointing the best and most qualified individuals who are dedicated to working on behalf of the American people, not to appease the bureaucracy that has failed them for far too long,” Fields said. The Washington Post was first to report King’s departure. One of the sources familiar with the situation, Nancy Altman, president of Social Security Works, a left-leaning group focused on protecting and expanding Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, told NBC News she learned of the situation after speaking with several current officials at the agency. Altman said some of the information involved in the dispute included Americans’ bank information, social security numbers, earnings records, marital statuses, dates of birth and in some cases medical records if a person has applied for disability benefits. “She was replaced as acting commissioner because she would not give access to the sensitive information,” Altman said of King. “So, she was replaced with someone who presumably will. But she was not forced to leave the agency. That was her choice. It was the White House’s choice to not let her be head of the agency anymore.” President Donald Trump has appointed Leland Dudek, a manager in charge of Social Security’s anti-fraud office, as acting commissioner of the Social Security Administration now that King is out. Altman slammed DOGE’s request of King and the Social Security Administration. “I don’t think you can overstate how serious this breach is,” Altman said. “The information that the Social Security Administration has is a lot of personal data that most people would like to keep private and they entrusted to the government through tax returns and through their employers sending in earning statements. The assumption is that the government will be very careful with it.” King, who has worked at the Social Security Administration for decades, has chosen to retire, Altman said. The SSA did not immediately return a request for comment. King’s departure is the latest in a wave of exits from senior officials whose agencies have come into DOGE’s crosshairs. The agency is in charge of managing payments for more than 70 million Americans. Trump has vowed not to enact cuts to retirement benefits. In an interview with Fox News, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that the president 'has directed Elon Musk and the DOGE team to identify fraud at the Social Security Administration.' She said that while the team hadn't 'dug into the books,' they suspected that widespread fraud was occurring. The SSA's inspector general released a report in July that found between 2015 and 2022, only .84% of benefits payments were improper. This is not the first time DOGE has drawn scrutiny over attempts to access sensitive information. A DOGE-affiliated employee at the Internal Revenue Service is expected to seek access to an IRS system housing sensitive taxpayer information, an administration official told NBC News on Sunday. DOGE additionally accessed the Treasury Department’s payment system earlier this month, which stores Social Security numbers and other confidential financial information. Several lawsuits were then filed claiming that DOGE’s access to this data violated federal privacy laws. Justice Department attorneys subsequently agreed to temporarily restrict DOGE’s access to the Treasury Department’s systems, save for two employees given “read only” access “as needed.” A judge later temporarily blocked political appointees and special government employees — including those who work at DOGE — from accessing sensitive and confidential information stored within the treasury. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem also said this month that Trump authorized Musk to access disaster data housed within FEMA.
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