Doge takeover of social security seemed ‘based on myth’, says ex-administrator

A former chief of staff at the US Social Security Administration (SSA) described how agents of the so-called “department of government efficiency” (Doge) – Elon Musk’s government cost-cutting operation – were imposed on the agency, assailing senior staff with questions “based on the general myth of supposed widespread fraud” and acting with dangerous disregard for data confidentiality.

In a declaration filed with a lawsuit on Friday and referring to the Doge agents Mike Russo and Akash Bobba, Tiffany Flick said: “We proposed briefings to help Mr Russo and Mr Bobba understand the many measures the agency takes to help ensure the accuracy of benefit payments, including those measures that help ensure we are not paying benefits to deceased individuals.

“However, Mr Russo seemed completely focused on questions … based on the general myth of supposed widespread social security fraud, rather than facts.”

Flick also said she was “not confident” Doge agents had “the requisite knowledge and training to prevent sensitive information from being inadvertently transferred to bad actors”, given its agents have “never been vetted by SSA or trained on SSA data, systems or programs”.

“In such a chaotic environment, the risk of data leaking into the wrong hands is significant,” Flick said.

Russo is now the SSA’s chief information officer. And Bobba is one of a number of young aides to Musk whose work for Doge – imposing staff as well as budget cuts – has proved hugely controversial.

Musk, the Tesla and SpaceX billionaire, donated hundreds of millions of dollars to Donald Trump’s victorious 2024 presidential campaign and was rewarded with the Doge project.

Flick became acting chief of staff to the acting social security commissioner, Michelle King, on 20 January, the day Trump was inaugurated for his second presidency. On 16 February, the White House named as acting commissioner Leland Dudek, a mid-level SSA data analyst who had been on leave and was suspected of passing information to Doge.

According to the Washington Post, Dudek has since told senior staff he is not really in charge, saying: “Doge people are learning and they will make mistakes, but we have to let them see what is going on at SSA. I am relying on longtime career people to inform my work, but I am receiving decisions that are made without my input. I have to effectuate those decisions.”

Flick worked for the SSA for 30 years but retired the day Dudek was appointed. Her declaration was given under oath. The lawsuit was brought by Democracy Forward, a group representing “a coalition of unions and retirees” seeking “to halt [Doge’s] unprecedented, unlawful seizure of personal, confidential, private, and sensitive data regarding millions of Americans across the country from the SSA, in violation of the law”.

Flick described confrontations with Doge including over a formal swearing-in for Bobba, necessary given the “highly sensitive” nature of SSA systems and data – but which, after “challenges with Mr Bobba’s background check”, had to be carried out over the phone, “contrary to standard practice” and at “around 9pm” on 10 February.

Russo, Flick said, “never fully disclosed … what information Doge wanted and issues it needed to address, but my understanding is that it was related to fraud.

“The information Doge sought seemed to fall into three categories: 1) untrue allegations regarding benefit payments to deceased people of advanced age; 2) concern regarding single social security numbers receiving multiple benefits (which is normal when multiple family members receive benefits through one wage-earner); and 3) payments made to people without a social security number.

“I considered each of these concerns to be invalid and based on an inaccurate understanding of SSA’s data and programs.

“As to the first, SSA’s benefits’ file contradicts any claim that payments are made to deceased people as old as 150 years. As to the second, Doge seemed to misunderstand the fact that benefits payments to spouses and dependents will be based on the social security number of a single worker. As to the third, we were simply never given enough information to understand the source of the concern but had never encountered anything to suggest that inappropriate benefit payments were being made to people without a social security number.”

Musk has repeatedly made inaccurate claims about social security fraud, including about supposed 150-year-old recipients, and has called the program “the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time”.

In response, one Democratic US senator, Jack Reed of Rhode Island, said: “Social security is not a Ponzi scheme. It is an effective lifeline that helps seniors avoid destitution. It is a sound insurance program that works for wage earners who pay into the system while they are working, and when they reach retirement age they get benefits.”

Reporting Flick’s declaration, the Post said: “Russo hung up on a reporter who called seeking comment” while Bobba and SSA officials did not comment. Advocates continue to sound the alarm.

The president of Democracy Forward, Skye Perryman, said: “Americans should be able to trust the government to protect their confidential data and yet – again – the Trump administration has shown a blatant disregard for the law and its obligations to the American people by granting unprecedented levels of access to unappointed and unvetted individuals.

“On behalf of retirees and worker representatives, we urge the court to block the Trump administration’s unlawful attempt to access the private data of hundreds of millions of Americans across the country.”