Summary
Acting Social Security Commissioner Leland Dudek threatened to shut down the agency after a court barred Elon Musk’s DOGE team from accessing sensitive databases.
Dudek said he would cut off IT access for all employees, raising fears of halted benefits for 70 million Americans.
The court later clarified that not all SSA employees were DOGE affiliates, leading Dudek to backtrack.
Critics, including advocacy groups, accuse Dudek of undermining the agency and pursuing Musk and Trump’s anti-fraud agenda, which falsely alleges widespread improper payments.
This is different from the townhalls. Actual money is involved, simple as that. They themselves said that they are not going to cut/end social security (a little bit too late though, almost like backpedaling). While they might get to a point where “you won’t ever have to vote again”, they are not 100% sure about it (yet). They cannot afford pissing off 70 million people and their close ones.