‘Child who didn't get his way’: ​Social Security head slammed for threat to 'shut it down'

A ruling this week that temporarily blocked Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency from accessing personally identifiable information from the Social Security Administration has led to the agency’s acting chief threatening to shut it down, the Washington Post reported Friday. The sticking point for Dudek in U.S. District Judge Ellen Lipton Hollander’s ruling on Thursday was her reference to “DOGE affiliates,” which Dudek is now arguing “could apply to all employees who access personally identifiable information, or PII, because of their obligations to cooperate with DOGE,” according to the Post. I don’t have much of a choice here.” The “dramatic move” from Dudek would be “unprecedented in the agency’s history and would immediately begin halting benefit payments for millions of Americans,” according to the Post. “The Trump regime is threatening to shut down the Social Security Administration in response to a court ruling blocking DOGE from further infiltrating the agency,” Former Clinton administration Labor Secretary Robert Reich told his Bluesky followers. “If your Social Security check is late or doesn't arrive at all, remember who is to blame.” The president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees issued a stern statement lambasting Dudek, who he called “way over his head.” “Like a child who didn't get his way, Leland Dudek is threatening to shut down Social Security.