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Yahoo
16-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
DOGE is flirting with the ‘third rail' of American politics — errors could delay or disrupt benefits, a former top Social Security official says
The Social Security Administration is laying off 12% of its workforce, and the loss of expertise, especially on key systems, could put benefits at risk as DOGE tries to look for fraud, according to a former staffer at the agency. Historically, toying with Social Security benefits has been long seen as a political 'third rail,' meaning whoever touches it will get zapped. The White House said in a press release it won't cut Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid benefits, but that doesn't rule out the chances of a mistake. Amid the Department of Government Efficiency's cost-cutting endeavor within federal agencies in recent weeks, a former top Social Security Administration staffer is worried about benefit interruptions as the agency loses expertise while DOGE looks for fraud in its systems. In February, the SSA released a statement announcing plans to lay off roughly 12% of its 57,000 employees through voluntary resignation and a reduction-in-force plan. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump and world's richest man Elon Musk, the figurehead for DOGE, have claimed fraud on a massive scale, though experts have said it's limited. Still, DOGE is looking for evidence and seeks full access to the SSA's Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW), which houses information about anyone with a Social Security number, including financial and banking information, according to a declaration filed in a lawsuit last week by former senior official Tiffany Flick. She said that SSA typically doesn't provide full access to all data systems—even to the most skilled and highly trained experts—to protect against inadvertent or unauthorized changes to the system. Flick said DOGE officials lacked interest in understanding SSA's systems and programs, while disregarding critical processes like providing the "least privileged" access on a need-to-know basis. 'That combined with a significant loss of expertise as more and more agency personnel leave, have me seriously concerned that SSA programs will continue to function and operate without disruption,' she said. Flick said that inadvertent error poses the risk of 'benefits payments not being paid out or delays in payments.' The SSA information technology programs are made up of complex systems that use old programming languages that require specialized knowledge, she warned, adding that they are easily broken if long-standing procedures aren't followed. 'I understand that DOGE associates have been seeking access to the 'source code' to SSA systems,' Flick wrote. 'If granted, I am not confident that such associates have the requisite understanding of SSA to avoid critical errors that could upend SSA systems.' In addition to her concerns regarding benefits, Flick is not convinced DOGE has the proper experience to prevent sensitive information from getting into the hands of bad actors. 'In such a chaotic environment, the risk of data leaking into the wrong hands is significant,' she said. Andrew Biggs, an American Enterprise Institute senior fellow, told Axios the agency could increase productivity and efficiency, but he doubts DOGE's ability to do so due to its lack of experience. 'I just find it hard to accept that you can go in there having been there just a few weeks, and do these far-reaching changes having fully thought out the consequences of them,' he said. Biggs says while checks are automated and won't be disrupted, possible disruptions to customer service bring concerns regarding budget cuts. 'It's kind of a foot race between whether they can improve service before these cuts are impacting service,' Biggs said. The White House, the U.S. DOGE Service, and the SSA did not respond to Fortune's request for comment. This story was originally featured on
CBS News
18-02-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Social Security Administration acting commissioner steps down
Social Security Administration Acting Commissioner Michelle King has stepped down from her role at the agency, a Trump administration official confirmed to CBS News. King was replaced by Leland Dudek, who oversaw the SSA fraud investigation office, and then she resigned, according to this official. White House spokesperson Harrison Fields on Monday wrote on social media about the news, "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." The White House did not provide a specific reason for King's departure. CBS News has reached out to the SSA for comment. Nancy Altman, the president of the advocacy group Social Security Works, told CBS News they heard from SSA employees that officials from the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, had been trying to get access to the Enterprise Data Warehouse — a centralized database that serves as the main hub for personal, sensitive information related to social security benefits such as beneficiary records and earnings data. Altman was told King had been resistant to giving DOGE officials access to the database. "She was standing in the way and they moved her out of the way. They put someone in who presumably they thought would cooperate with them and give them the keys to all our personal data," Altman said, The Washington Post first reported King's departure. King's exit from the administration is one of several departures of high-ranking officials concerned about DOGE staffers' potential unlawful access to private taxpayer information. DOGE has accessed Treasury payment systems and is attempting to access Internal Revenue Service databases. Since Mr. Trump has retaken the White House, his billionaire adviser Elon Musk and DOGE have rapidly burrowed deep into federal agencies. Altman told The Associated Press, "There is no way to overstate how serious a breach this is. And my understanding is that it has already occurred." "The information collected and securely held by the Social Security Administration is highly sensitive," she said. "SSA has data on everyone who has a Social Security number, which is virtually all Americans, everyone who has Medicare, and every low-income American who has applied for Social Security's means-tested companion program, Supplemental Security Income." "If there is an evil intent to punish perceived enemies, someone could erase your earnings record, making it impossible to collect the Social Security and Medicare benefits you have earned," she said. The future of Social Security has become a top political issue and was a major point of contention in the 2024 election. About 72.5 million people, including retirees, disabled people and children, receive Social Security benefits.
