Leland Dudek

Leland Dudek
Acting Commissioner of the Social Security Administration
Incumbent
Assumed office February 16, 2025
President	Donald Trump
Preceded by	Michelle King (acting)
Personal details
Education	Catholic University of America (BA) National Defense University (MS)

Leland Dudek is an American public servant who is serving as the acting commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA). Prior to this, he was worked for the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board and in the SSA's anti-fraud office.

Educated at the Catholic University of America and National Defense University, Dudek worked an analyst in information technology, cybersecurity and fraud prevention for United States federal government.

Dudek provided the Department of Government Efficiency information without authorization and was placed under investigation for it, but President Donald Trump appointed him commissioner. Dudek reduced research funding and demoted executives opposed to him and threatened to cease the SSA's operations. He has feuded with Governor of Maine Janet Mills for comments made to Trump.

Early life

Leland Dudek's parents divorced when he was young and his mother lived off of Social Security benefits due to a disability. Dudek graduated from the Catholic University of America with a Bachelor of Arts degree and the College of Information and Cyberspace at the National Defense University with a Master of Science in Government Information Leadership.

Career

Dudek was given a Certified Information Systems Security Professional certification in 2006. He was the Chief Information Security Officer for the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board. For 25 years he was an analyst who worked in information technology, cybersecurity and fraud prevention in the United States federal government. He served as a redistricting commissioner for Hyattsville, Maryland, and was a member of the Selective Service System local board.

Social Security Administration

At the Social Security Administration Dudek worked in the anti-fraud office. In his position he shared information with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) without authorization. Dudek was placed on paid leave and an investigation was planned, but President Donald Trump replaced acting commissioner Michelle King with Dudek on February 16, 2025. Trump's nominee for commissioner, Frank Bisignano, is still awaiting approval. On Dudek's social media he has praised DOGE.

During Dudek's tenure as acting commissioner he reduced funding for research programs and demoted senior executives who were responsible for him being placed on paid leave. He has proposed digitizing Social Security cards. SSA employees were barred from accessing certain sites, including news sites, on March 6, which hamper their ability to view obituaries, which are used to prevent fraud. He threatened to cease the operations of the SSA after DOGE staffers were blocked from accessing SSA data by a court ruling, but retracted this threat.

SSA policy is that parents can request their newborn children's Social Security numbers at the hospitals and 99% of children received their numbers that way. However, Dudek temporarily ended this in Maine and required parents to go to a Social Security office to request numbers. No official reason was given for this, but it occurred after Governor Janet Mills refused to implement orders from Trump prohibiting transgender athletes from sports. Dudek stated that "I was upset with the governor’s treatment of the president."

In February 2025, Dudek ordered the SSA to cancel two data collection contracts with the state of Maine despite being told that this would increase fraud. Dudek said that it was more important to punish Mills and that while "improper payments will go up", it would also allow the Trump administration to punish a "petulant child." U.S. Representative Gerry Connolly, the highest ranking Democratic member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, sent a letter to Dudek on April 2, calling on him to resign.

Works cited

News

• Delaney, Arthur (March 6, 2025). "Trump Administration Backtracks On Forcing Maine Parents To Visit Social Security Offices To Register Newborns". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on March 26, 2025.
• Egwuonwu, Nnamdi; Atkins, Chloe; Grumbach, Gary (March 22, 2025). "Social Security chief backs down on threat to shut down agency after DOGE ruling". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on March 26, 2025.
• Hager, Eli (March 12, 2025). ""The President Wanted It and I Did It": Recording Reveals Head of Social Security's Thoughts on DOGE and Trump". ProPublica. Archived from the original on March 26, 2025.
• Lawlor, Joe (April 2, 2025). "Social Security head called Gov. Mills a 'petulant child' in email ordering staff to cancel Maine contracts". Portland Press Herald. Archived from the original on April 3, 2025.
• Rein, Lisa; Stein, Jeff; Natanson, Hannah (March 6, 2025). "DOGE is driving Social Security cuts and will make mistakes, acting head says privately". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on March 6, 2025.
• Rein, Lisa (February 22, 2025). "New Social Security chief was being investigated when Musk team tapped him". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on February 22, 2025.
• Rein, Lisa; McDaniel, Justine (March 18, 2025). "Social Security to require millions to make claims in person rather than by phone". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on March 23, 2025.
• Rein, Lisa; Bailey, Holly; Stein, Jeff; Bogage, Jacob (February 17, 2025). "Top Social Security official exits after clash with Musk's DOGE over data". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on February 22, 2025.
• Slater, Joanna; Rein, Lisa (April 2, 2025). "How the Trump administration took aim at Maine". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on April 2, 2025.

Web

• "Acting Commissioner Leland Dudek". Social Security Administration. Archived from the original on March 26, 2025.
• "Leland Dudek". Association of Government Accountants. Archived from the original on March 26, 2025.