Social Security chief, FDA head resign over Trump administration orders

Cuts and requests for highly classified information by the President Donald Trump administration and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has led to the resignations of the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) acting commissioner and the head of the food division at the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Why It Matters

Social Security benefits are paid to about 72.5 million Americans every month. It helps forms the bedrock of income for many retirees, survivors of deceased claimants and people with disabilities. Tech billionaire Elon Musk, who is leading DOGE, a nongovernmental task force that is reportedly working to cut federal spending and has been granted access to “sensitive Treasury data,” has taken issue with the payments made by the SSA. Musk has said that widespread fraud occurs in “federal entitlements” like Social Security.

According to the Associated Press, citing three FDA staffers on the condition of anonymity, probationary employees across the FDA received notices Saturday evening that their jobs were being eliminated. While the total number of positions eliminated remains unclear as of Sunday afternoon, the firings appeared to focus on employees in the agency’s centers for food, medical devices and tobacco products. In addition, it is unclear whether FDA employees who review drugs were exempted from the layoffs.

What To Know

The Associated Press reported on Monday that the SSA’s acting commissioner, Michelle King, departed from the agency over the weekend. She has already been replaced with Leland Dudek, who works at the SSA.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent approved Musk’s access to US Treasury. It allows him and his team entry into the system responsible for trillions of dollars in government payments, including Social Security checks and tax refunds.

Musk has posted to X, formerly Twitter, a spreadsheet of data showing “the numbers of people in each age bucket with the death field set to FALSE!” It includes 46 million between the ages of 60 and 69, the period during which a person becomes eligible to collect retirement benefits. It also includes more than ten million listed as being above the age of 100, including one who is recorded as being between the ages of 360 to 369 years of age.

Newsweek has been unable to verify the data Musk has presented. The total of the numbers included add up to considerably more than the number of beneficiaries that are paid by the Social Security Administration (SSA) every month, which was around 73 million as of January this year. It is also higher than the total U.S. population, which is around 341 million at the time of the last census in 2020.

On Monday, Musk went head-to-head with Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman, who suggested that Musk has potentially too much access “to private taxpayer data” which “sparks outcry.”

Musk responded that his issue is with the number of people who are allegedly a part of Social Security and not alive.

“Having tens of millions of people marked in Social Security as ‘ALIVE’ when they are definitely dead is a HUGE problem. Obviously,” Musk wrote. “Some of these people would have been alive before America existed as a country. Think about that for a second …”

As for the FDA, Jim Jones, the head of the food division who had overseen the banning of food dye Red No. 3, stepped down due to widespread agency cuts which would make changes ordered by the Trump administration hard to implement, according to Bloomberg News.

Bloomberg News reported that Jones told acting FDA Commissioner Sara Brenner in his resignation letter that it is “fruitless for me to continue in this role.”

Jones’ letter reportedly noted the 89 staffers in the food division who have been laid off, calling the cuts “indiscriminate.” Their jobs involved work in nutrition, infant formula and food safety.

What People Are Saying

White House spokesperson Harrison Fields in a statement to the Associated Press: “President Trump has nominated the highly qualified and talented Frank Bisignano to lead the Social Security Administration, and we expect him to be swiftly confirmed in the coming weeks. In the meantime, the agency will be led by a career Social Security anti-fraud expert as the acting commissioner.”

Nancy Altman, president of advocacy group Social Security Works, to the Associated Press: “There is no way to overstate how serious a breach this is. And my understanding is that it has already occurred… If there is an evil intent to punish perceived enemies, someone could erase your earnings record, making it impossible to collect the Social Security and Medicare benefits you have earned.”

Jim Jones in his resignation letter, per Bloomberg News: “I was looking forward to working to pursue the department’s agenda of improving the health of Americans by reducing diet-related chronic disease and risks from chemicals in food.”

Scott Faber, senior vice president of government affairs at the Environmental Working Group, about Jim Jones to Bloomberg News: “There is no one on earth who can replace the chemical safety expertise that Jim brought to this job.”

Elon Musk on X: “I love the people. We just want to fix the waste and fraud that is bankrupting the country. The scrutiny on me is extreme, so it’s not like I could ‘get away’ with something, nor do I have any incentive to do so.”

What Happens Next

Musk’s involvement is expected to continue generating backlash from Democrats, who have pushed back now with legislation.

Eight out of 11 people in a focus group by Engagious/Sago recently said they approve of Musk’s DOGE efforts.