Chief of Social Security suddenly steps down following disagreement with Elon Musk about DOGE’s access to confidential information

The head of the Social Security Administration has resigned following a dispute with Elon Musk regarding the ‘First Buddy’ and DOGE’s efforts to obtain government records.

Musk, who was previously a close associate of Donald Trump during his presidency, used his position as DOGE chairman to try and reduce unnecessary government expenses and prevent fraud and abuse.

The issue extends to social security, with Musk recently revealing shocking statistics indicating that there are millions of deceased Americans who are still eligible to receive social security benefits.

Michelle King – a career bureaucrat who has worked for the SSA since 1994 until being named to the top post this year – apparently clashed with Musk over his attempts to access sensitive government records, though its unclear which records they were trying to get. 

Trump has already nominated Frank Bisgnano to get the role permanently but he is still being vetted by the Senate, the Washington Post reports.

Leland Dudek, who runs the SSA’s anti-fraud division, has been appointed acting commissioner. 

‘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,’ the White House told DailyMail.com in a statement. 

‘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.’ 

Michelle King, the acting commissioner of the Social Security Administration, has quit after a disagreement with Elon Musk over the ‘First Buddy’ and DOGE attempting to access government records

Musk has served as a sidekick to Donald Trump early on in his second term, using his role as DOGE chairman to attempt to cut unnecessary waste, fraud and abuse from government

DailyMail.com has reached out to the Social Security Administration for comment. 

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is investigating wasted taxpayer money as a matter of urgency after Donald Trump promised voters huge savings at the federal government.

Musk posted a chart on X showing that there are more than 20 million Americans listed over the age of 100, including 3.9 million in the 130-139 range, more than 3.5 million aged 140-149 and more than 1.3 million in the range 150-159. There is even an ‘alive’ citizen aged over 360, according to the records.

The billionaire Tesla boss wrote: ‘According to the Social Security database, these are the numbers of people in each age bucket with the death field set to FALSE! Maybe Twilight is real and there are a lot of vampires collecting Social Security.’

The Department of Health and Human Services agency is under fire from Musk for having on its records 60 million people more than the entire U.S. population, which means millions of people who are no longer alive – or possibly never existed – could be receiving monthly checks.

In 2024, 68.5 million people received benefits from SSA through retirement, disability and other payments. 

It’s unclear so far yet how many of these payments were distributed due to fraud or mistakes made by the agency failing to confirm the age and eligibility of beneficiaries – including if they are alive or not.

But DOGE vowed it is now ‘looking into this.’

Donald Trump has mandated Elon Musk look into government waste, fraud and abuse

Leland Dudek, who runs the SSA’s anti-fraud division, has been appointed acting commissioner

Musk posted a table showing the tabulated number of existing U.S. citizens accounted for at the SSA on Sunday.

While the ages of Americans aged zero through 99 was on track for the U.S. population, once the ages got to upwards of 100-years-old it got much more unbelievable.

There are, according to Musk’s spreadsheet, more than 4.7 million people aged between 100 and 109. And there is at least one person aged above 360 and another still in the system who is in their 240s.

A shocking 1,039 people are still alive in the SSA database who are between the ages of 220 and 229, Musk’s analysis finds.

‘Yes, there are FAR more ‘eligible’ social security numbers than there are citizens in the USA,’ Musk wrote. ‘This might be the biggest fraud in history.’

A 2023 count shows there are 334.9 million U.S. citizens. But Musk said on X that the ‘number of US citizens eligible for social security is closer to 310M.’

This is impossible considering that would mean approximately 92.5 percent of the U.S. population is eligible to receive retirement, disability or survivor benefits from the federal government.

Musk made clear last week that the Social Security Administration was next on his DOGE hit-list for an audit.

During a press availability held in the Oval Office alongside President Donald Trump on Tuesday, Musk revealed DOGE found people who are ‘probably dead’ and still receiving Social Security checks. 

‘Reexamination of Social Security – we’ve got people in there that are 150-years-old,’ Musk lamented during an impromptu press conference as Trump signed an executive order.

‘Now do you know anyone who’s 150?’ the billionaire asked. ‘I don’t know. They should be in the Guinness Book of World Records. They’re missing out.’

‘So, you know, that’s the case where I think they’re probably dead, is my guess, or they should be very famous – one of the two,’ he concluded.

Already, Musk has entirely dismantled USAID and targeted FEMA by having its four top finance officials fired for paying $59 million to luxury hotels in New York City to house illegal migrants.

Additionally, 40,000 federal employees have accepted a buyout Trump offered for them to voluntarily leave their roles in exchange for full pay through September.

He has also cut billions in federal government contracts, including those paid out by the Department of Education and National Institutes of Health to outside companies and corporations.

Much of the cuts have been aimed at ending diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs and practices.