Social Security Administration: DOGE Cannot Make Changes to Benefit Payments

The seal of the US Social Security Administration outside the agency's headquarters in Woodlawn, Maryland, US, on Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. The acting commissioner of the Social Security Administration and her top deputy have left following a confrontation with Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency team over access to data on 70 million beneficiaries, according to people familiar with the moves. Photographer: Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images.

Acting Social Security Commissioner Lee Dudek issued a statement to reassure Americans that DOGE will not disrupt the working of the Social Security Administration, after concerns were raised in recent weeks. "Our continuing priority is paying beneficiaries the right amount at the right time, and providing other critical services people rely on from us." Dudek also invited the scrutiny of the Office of the Inspector General.

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was tasked by President Trump to find fraud, waste, abuse and modernize federal technology and software to "maximize governmental efficiency and productivity" and is now looking over the operations at the Social Security Administration (SSA).