DOGE seeks access to Social Security, IRS data as top official resigns

Elon Musk staffers from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have been seeking data at the Internal Revenue Service as well as Social Security data in order to cut out waste and fraud. Amid the efforts, a top Social Security official has resigned from her position.

According to the Washington Post, the acting commissioner of the Social Security Administration, Michelle King, resigned from her role after she clashed with Musk over him and DOGE staff gaining access to sensitive social security records.

In her place, President Donald Trump has appointed Leland Dudek as the acting commissioner as Trump's permanent choice, Frank Bisignano, is going through the nomination process in the Senate. “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,” a White House representative said.

“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."

In addition to this, DOGE has sought records at the IRS, and if successful, would be able “to have instantaneous visual access to certain taxpayer accounts" that are connected to the IRS website, according to the AP. Harrison Fields, a Trump administration spokesman, said concerning DOGE's efforts, "Waste, fraud, and abuse have been deeply entrenched in our broken system for far too long. It takes direct access to the system to identify and fix it.”

“DOGE will continue to shine a light on the fraud they uncover as the American people deserve to know what their government has been spending their hard earned tax dollars on,” he added.

Democrats have been trying to fight DOGE's efforts to cut from different government agencies and programs and have been showing up to agency buildings in Washington, DC that are under audit in protest, such as the US Agency for International Development and the Department of Education.

There have been a number of lawsuits filed against DOGE and the Trump administration for the efforts to cut government spending, and Musk has said that they have a goal of cutting down the budget by $1 trillion in the first year of Trump’s term.