Trump’s Social Security chief retreats from agency shutdown threat
3 Min Read
The current Social Security chief previously threatened to shut down the Social Security Administration after claiming that a judge's ruling would affect workers in the agency, which would "effectively shut it down."
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Demonstrators gather outside of the Edward A. Garmatz United States District Courthouse in Baltimore, on Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP)
The head of the US Social Security Administration has taken back his threats of "shutting down the agency" after a federal judge reprimanded him for misinterpreting a court ruling.
The head of the US Agency, Leland Dudek, who had been cooperating with the Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) said that the court clarified its ruling which Dudek thought limited Musk's access to agency information, adding that he is "not shutting down the agency."
On Thursday, US District Judge Ellen Lipton Hollander ruled that the agency likely violated privacy laws by granting Musk's aides "unrestricted access" to millions of Americans' data, prompting the judge to order an immediate halt to detailed record-sharing between Dudek's agency and Musk's DOGE.
Dudek told US media outlets, including Bloomberg News and the Washington Post, that complying with the court's order would also require limiting access to the information for agency employees, ultimately shutting the agency down.
Hollander rejected that claim on Friday, stating in a letter to government counsel that such assertions about the order's scope were inaccurate, and adding that her ruling stated that Musk's team could still access records as long as personally identifiable information, including names and Social Security numbers, were redacted, while agency employees still had access to unredacted documents.
"Any suggestion that the order may require the delay or suspension of benefit payments is incorrect," Judge Hollander clarified.
This legal row follows Trump's crackdown on the Social Security Administration, which takes care of millions of pensioners and disabled people across the US. Most recently, the agency laid off thousands of workers as part of the new administration's efforts to cut down the federal workforce.
US Social Security lays off 7,000 workers
The US agency overseeing benefits for tens of millions of older Americans announced on March 1 plans to cut 7,000 jobs as part of the Trump administration’s broader push to shrink the federal workforce.
"The agency plans to reduce the size of its bloated workforce and organizational structure, with a significant focus on functions and employees who do not directly provide mission critical services," the SSA announced in a statement. noting that it will cut 12% of its staff.
The agency stated that it had recently set a staffing target of 50,000, down from its current workforce of approximately 57,000, while also confirming plans to reduce its regional offices from 10 to 4.
On February 28, two dozen senior SSA staff members resigned, according to an internal memo written by Acting Commissioner Leland Dudek, a copy of which was reviewed by Reuters.
Dudek assumed leadership of the agency after the previous acting commissioner, Michelle King, resigned over concerns about members of billionaire Elon Musk’s DOGE gaining access to SSA's computer systems, which store the personal data of tens of millions of Americans.
The Trump administration and DOGE have already reduced the federal civilian workforce by more than 100,000 employees through a combination of layoffs and buyouts, arguing that the federal government is excessively large and inefficient.
