1. United States
2. Texas
3. Letter

A federal judge on Thursday ordered Social Security to revoke DOGE access to various databases containing Americans’ personal information, and for DOGE employees or affiliates to delete any data they’ve taken and remove any software they’ve installed.  In an interview with Bloomberg on Thursday evening, Leland Dudek, the acting commissioner of Social Security, said his own staff would count as DOGE affiliates and… “As it stands, I will follow it exactly and terminate access by all SSA employees to our IT systems,” Dudek said. “Really, I want to turn it off and let the courts figure out how they want to run a federal agency.”  On Friday, Dudek indicated he was actually talking to the Justice Department about shutting down Social Security ― and potentially halting benefits for 70 million people ― if the court didn’t clarify its order.   “Unless I get clarification, I’ll just start to shut it down. I don’t have much of a choice here,” Dudek told The Washington Post.  Later on Friday, Dudek stood down, saying the court had clarified its order.  “Therefore, I am not shutting down the agency,” Dudek said in a press release. “President Trump supports keeping Social Security offices open and getting the right check to the right person at the right time.” How had U.S. District Judge Ellen Hollander clarified her restraining order against DOGE at SSA? By simply stating in a letter it was “inaccurate” for Dudek to claim everyone at Social Security counted as a DOGE affiliate. That’s all it took.  On Thursday, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick also talked about halting all Social Security payments as a way of rooting out fraud. “Let’s say Social Security didn’t send out their checks this month. My mother-in-law, who’s 94, she wouldn’t call and complain. She just wouldn’t. She’d think something got messed up and she’ll get it next month,” Lutnick said on the “All-In” podcast. “A fraudster always makes the loudest noise, screaming, yelling and complaining.” Yes we know. One sits in the Oval Office doing just that. And wow. I guess he’s okay with a 94 year old woman trying to figure out how to eat and pay bills while she hopes to see her next check. I can’t tell you how offensive it is, how horrific it is, how callous it is, how frightening it is, to hear these guys, with the power to do so, talk blithely about cutting off lifelines for the American citizens they are supposed to work for. All in service of what exactly? Do you approve of governance by threats and extortion towards your constituents? I can’t believe these guys have the jobs they do. They seem the epitome of failing upwards