Social Security Staffers Barred From Reading News at Work

Uncertainty surrounding the Social Security Administration continues, the latest entry coming via the Washington Post. The newspaper reports that acting chief Leland Dudek met with top staff and attorneys representing the elderly and disabled this week and acknowledged that Elon Musk's DOGE team is likely to make "mistakes" as they make cuts at the agency.

• "Things are currently operating in a way I have never seen in government before," the newspaper quotes Dudek as saying. He reportedly described staffers from the Department of Government Efficiency as "outsiders who are unfamiliar with nuances of SSA programs," adding, "DOGE people are learning and they will make mistakes, but we have to let them see what is going on at SSA."
• After the report came out, the SSA emailed employees to say they can no longer read news websites on work computers, reports NBC News. The email also forbids online shopping and sports sites, saying the restrictions are necessary to keep data safe. It did not mention the Post story, which notes that staffers use news sites (particularly obituaries) to fight fraud.

• Dudek was named acting chief after his predecessor refused access to DOGE. Critics including Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren say Dudek "may have acted against agency policy—or even illegally—to facilitate DOGE's efforts to access SSA systems," as she wrote in a letter to him this week, per CBS News.
• Both Musk and President Trump have suggested the Social Security system is rife with fraud. After Musk described it as a "Ponzi scheme," Trump cited "shocking levels of incompetence and probable fraud in the Social Security program" in his speech to Congress this week. But Forbes reports that any evidence of this is lacking. "Errors and abuse of the system do exist, but data suggests it's relatively rare."
• The SSA has announced 7,000 job cuts, but the agency says these employees don't provide "mission critical services." Whether DOGE will go beyond these cuts is unclear. And as Forbes notes, neither Musk nor Trump has suggested that any cuts to benefits are in the offing. (A former SSA chief fears at least disruptions in checks in the next month or two.)