Statement about Commitment to Agency Transparency and Protecting Benefits and Information

February 19, 2025

For Immediate Release

“I am honored and humbled to be appointed Social Security’s Acting Commissioner
pending Senate confirmation of Frank Bisignano to be SSA’s next Commissioner. I
accepted the position because I strongly believe in the agency’s mission and the
hardworking and dedicated employees who serve America.
Openness, transparency, and accountability are tenants of good government and
demonstrating them begins with me. To that end, I want to share several points to
reassure the public and our employees that I will continue SSA’s history of transparency
and protecting benefits and information.
I have experienced firsthand the impact that Social Security benefits have on family’s
lives. Since joining SSA in 2009, I have had the opportunity to work across multiple parts
of SSA, and especially appreciated my experiences working alongside frontline
employees in the Cambridge, MA field office.
Transparency begins with me: My first call as Acting Commissioner was to our Office of
the Inspector General (OIG) to provide them an opportunity to oversee and review any
and all agency activities, including my actions past, present, and future. I trust in the
People to be informed, and I am making available my agency personnel and performance
files to the OIG.
The law matters and we will follow it: I have invited the Government Accountability
Office, the non-partisan and independent agency that works for Congress, to observe how
we conduct agency business.
Good government means finding ways to do better: The Department of Government
Efficiency, known as DOGE, is a critical part of President Trump’s commitment to
identifying fraud, waste, and abuse, and better ways for the government to function to
support its people. I want to be very clear about the DOGE personnel who are now
working at Social Security.

 Our continuing priority is paying beneficiaries the right amount at the right time,
and providing other critical services people rely on from us.
 DOGE personnel CANNOT make changes to agency systems, benefit payments,
or other information. They only have READ access.
 DOGE personnel do not have access to data related to a court ordered temporary
restraining order, current or future.
 DOGE personnel must follow the law and if they violate the law they will be
referred to the Department of Justice for possible prosecution.

I also want to acknowledge recent reporting about the number of people older than age
100 who may be receiving benefits from Social Security. The reported data are people in
our records with a Social Security number who do not have a date of death associated
with their record. These individuals are not necessarily receiving benefits.
I am confident that with DOGE’s help and the commitment of our executive team and
workforce, that Social Security will continue to deliver for the American people.”

 

To view the release: 

English: PressRls.ACOSS Dudek Statement

Spanish: SP-PressRls.ACOSS Dudek Statement-2025-2