Elon Musk listens to U.S. President Donald Trump speak in the Oval Office. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The Social Security Administration’s Acting Commissioner has stepped down from her role at the agency over Department of Government Efficiency requests to access Social Security recipient information, according to two people familiar with the official’s departure who were not authorised to discuss the matter publicly.

Acting Commissioner Michelle King’s departure from the agency over the weekend — after more than 30 years of service — was initiated after King refused to provide DOGE staffers at the SSA with access to sensitive information, the people said Monday.

The White House has replaced her as Acting Commissioner with Leland Dudek, who currently works at the SSA, the people said.

White House spokesperson Harrison Fields released a statement Monday night saying, “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.” Ms. Fields added, “President Trump is committed to appointing the best and most qualified individuals who are dedicated to working on behalf of the American people, not to appease the bureaucracy that has failed them for far too long.”

Ms. King’s exit from the administration is one of several departures of high-ranking officials concerned about DOGE staffers’ potential unlawful access to private taxpayer information.

DOGE has accessed Treasury payment systems and is attempting to access Internal Revenue Service databases.

Since Republican President Donald Trump has retaken the White House, his billionaire adviser Elon Musk has rapidly burrowed deep into federal agencies while avoiding public scrutiny of his work through the DOGE group.

Nancy Altman, President of Social Security Works, an advocacy group for the preservation of Social Security benefits, said of DOGE’s efforts that “there is no way to overstate how serious a breach this is. And my understanding is that it has already occurred.” “The information collected and securely held by the Social Security Administration is highly sensitive,” she said.

“SSA has data on everyone who has a Social Security number, which is virtually all Americans, everyone who has Medicare, and every low-income American who has applied for Social Security’s means-tested companion programme, Supplemental Security Income.”

“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.”

The future of Social Security has become a top political issue and was a major point of contention in the 2024 election. About 72.5 million people, including retirees, disabled people and children, receive Social Security benefits.

The Trump administration has begun firing several hundred Federal Aviation Administration employees, upending staff on a busy air travel weekend and just weeks after a January fatal midair collision at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

Probationary workers were targeted in late-night emails Friday ( February 14) notifying them they had been fired, David Spero, president of the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists union, said in a statement.

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The impacted workers include personnel hired for FAA radar, landing and navigational aid maintenance, one air traffic controller told The Associated Press. The air traffic controller was not authorized to talk to the media and spoke on condition of anonymity.

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A Transportation Department official told the AP late Monday that no air traffic controllers were affected by the cuts, and that the agency has “retained employees who perform critical safety functions.” In a follow-up query the agency said they would have to look into whether the radar, landing and navigational aid workers affected were considered to handle critical safety functions.

The National Air Traffic Controllers Association said in a brief statement Monday it was “analyzing the effect of the reported federal employee terminations on aviation safety, the national airspace system and our members.”

Other FAA employees who were fired were working on an urgent and classified early warning radar system the Air Force had announced in 2023 for Hawaii to detect incoming cruise missiles, through a program that was in part funded by the Defense Department. It’s one of several programs that the FAA’s National Defense Program manages that involve radars providing longer-range detection around the country’s borders.

Due to the nature of their work, staff in that office typically provide an extensive knowledge transfer before retiring to make sure no institutional knowledge is lost, said Charles Spitzer-Stadtlander, one of the employees in that branch who was terminated.

The Hawaii radar and the FAA National Defense Program office working on it are “about protecting national security,” Spitzer-Stadtlander said. “I don’t think they even knew what NDP does, they just thought, oh no big deal, he just works for the FAA.”

“This is about protecting national security, and I’m scared to death,” Spitzer-Stadtlander said. “And the American public should be scared too.”

Spero said messages began arriving after 7 p.m. Friday and continued late into the night. More might be notified over the long weekend or barred from entering FAA buildings Tuesday, he said.

The employees were fired “without cause nor based on performance or conduct,” Spero said, and the emails were “from an ‘exec order’ Microsoft email address” — not a government email address. A copy of the termination email that was provided to the AP shows the sending address “ASK_AHR_EXEC_Orders@usfaa.mail.outlook.com.”

The firings hit the FAA as it is facing a shortfall in controllers. Federal officials have been raising concerns about an overtaxed and understaffed air traffic control system for years, especially after a series of close calls between planes at U.S. airports. Among the reasons they have cited for staffing shortages are uncompetitive pay, long shifts, intensive training and mandatory retirements.

In the January 29 fatal crash between a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines passenger jet, which is still under investigation, one controller was handing both commercial airline and helicopter traffic at the busy airport.

Just days before the collision, President Donald Trump had already fired all the members of the Aviation Security Advisory Committee, a panel mandated by Congress after the 1988 PanAm 103 bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland. The committee is charged with examining safety issues at airlines and airports.

Spitzer-Stadtlander suggested he was targeted for firing for his views on Tesla and X, formerly Twitter, not as part of a general probationary-level sweep. Both companies are owned by Elon Musk, whose Department of Government Efficiency is leading Trump’s effort to cut the federal government.

Spitzer-Stadtlander is Jewish and was angered by Musk’s straight-arm gesture at Trump’s inauguration. On his personal Facebook page he urged friends to get rid of their Teslas and X accounts in response.

Spitzer-Stadtlander said that post drew the attention of a Facebook account labeled “Department of Government Efficiency,” which reacted with a laughing emoji. Soon after, he saw the same account reacting to much older posts through his personal Facebook feed.

There are at least a half-dozen Facebook accounts labeled “Department of Government Efficiency,” and it’s unclear who operates any of them. White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt wrote Monday on X, “DOGE doesn’t even have a Facebook page.”

Spitzer-Stadtlander said he was supposed to be exempted from the probationary firings because the FAA office he worked in focused on national security threats such as attacks on the national airspace by drones.

“Less than a week later, I was fired, despite my position allegedly being exempted due to national security,” Spitzer-Stadtlander wrote in a post over the weekend on LinkedIn.

He added, “When DOGE fired me, they turned off my computer and wiped all of my files without warning.”

DOGE did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The firings were first reported by CNN.

 U.S. President Donald Trump chose Elon Musk to head the new Department of Government Efficiency. File.
| Photo Credit: AP

The U.S. Department of Government Efficiency led by billionaire Elon Musk has announced a series of expenditure cuts, including $21 million allocated for “voter turnout in India.” U.S. President Donald Trump chose Mr. Musk to head the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) last month. Tasked with improving governance and curbing wasteful expenditures, the DOGE announced the cuts in a post on X on Saturday (February 15, 2025).

The Department said, “U.S. taxpayer dollars were going to be spent on the following items, all (of) which have been cancelled…” The list included $486 million in grants to the “Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening” including $22 million for “inclusive and participatory political process” in Moldova and $21 million for “voter turnout in India”. No further details on the funding were given in the post.

This comes days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the U.S., during which he held talks with President Trump, as well as Mr. Musk.

The SpaceX CEO met Mr. Modi with his family, including three children. The two discussed opportunities in space, mobility, technology, and energy and exchanged notes on efforts at good governance in India and the US.

In its post, the DOGE also cancelled $29 million allocated to “strengthening political landscape in Bangladesh”, as well as $20 million for “fiscal federalism” in Nepal and $19 million for “biodiversity conversation” in the Himalayan nation.

It also announced cutting a $10 million grant for “Mozambique voluntary medical male circumcision”, $2.3 million for “strengthening independent voices in Cambodia”, $32 million to the Prague Civil Society Centre, $40 million for “gender equality and women empowerment hub” and $14 million for “improving public procurement” in Serbia, among other expenditure cuts. It also included $47 million for “improving learning outcomes in Asia”.

Washington DC:

In its bid to save US taxpayers’ money, the Donald Trump administration’s cost-cutting team–Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)– has cancelled a slew of overseas projects, including one in Bangladesh that raised several eyebrows. The billionaire Elon Musk-led department said it is cancelling $29 million funding intended for “strengthening the political landscape in Bangladesh”.

In a post on X listing a list of cancelled US funding abroad, DOGE said, “USD 29M to ‘strengthening the political landscape in Bangladesh” has been stopped.

US taxpayer dollars were going to be spent on the following items, all which have been cancelled:
– $10M for “Mozambique voluntary medical male circumcision”
– $9.7M for UC Berkeley to develop “a cohort of Cambodian youth with enterprise driven skills”
– $2.3M for “strengthening…

— Department of Government Efficiency (@DOGE) February 15, 2025

This comes days after American President Trump denied allegations of US involvement in the regime change in Bangladesh last year when former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted following a nationwide protest led by students.

About Strengthening Political Landscape Project in Bangladesh

Funded by the United States Agency For International Development (USAID) and the United Kingdon’s erstwhile Department for International Development, the strengthening Political Landscape in Bangladesh program (SPL) worked to build political party capacity and strengthen relationships between parties and constituents while reducing political violence, according to Democracy International (DI).

Per DI, the programme supported political activists and citizens as they built the skills they needed to become effective leaders, advocate for inclusive policies, and constructively engage with one another to mitigate conflict.

In addition, SPL confronted the challenges of political violence by engaging political parties, grassroots activists, and university students, monitoring incidents of violence, and promoting peaceful alternatives.

Trump On US Involvement In Bangadesh’s Regime Change

After a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday, US President Donald Trump dismissed any American involvement in the Bangladesh political crisis, stating that the issue has been handled by India for a long time.

When a reporter sought the views of President Trump on whether the previous Democratic government under former President Joe Biden carried out a regime change in Bangladesh, and installed Muhammad Yunus as a chief adviser, the Republican said, “There is no role for our deep state. This is something that the Prime Minister has been working on for a long time and has worked on for hundreds of years… I have been reading about it.”

Then pointing at PM Modi he added, “I will leave Bangladesh to the PM.”

While the Republican did not directly address the question, speculation is that the response indicated the new Trump administration may not get itself involved in Bangladesh, where alleged radical Islamist elements have been targeting religious minorities including Hindus.

India-Bangladesh Relations

Ties between India and Bangladesh have nosedived after Ms Hasina fled Dhaka in August in the face of a massive anti-government protest.

The interim government headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, who returned from the US to work as Bangladesh’s caretaker, continues to draw sharp criticism over not doing enough to stop attacks on minorities by radical Islamists.

Bangladesh-US Ties

Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s Chief Adviser, Professor Muhammad Yunus, on Friday said that he has discussed with Tesla CEO Elon Musk a potential collaboration to launch Starlink satellite internet service in Bangladesh.

Yunus on Thursday held an extensive video discussion with Musk to make further progress in introducing Starlink satellite to enhance internet service in Bangladesh.

Professor Yunus also extended an invitation to Musk to visit Bangladesh for the potential launch of Starlink services, underscoring the significance of this initiative for national development, to which Musk responded positively. 

“I look forward to it,” Musk said.

Other Biden-Era Funding Slashed By DOGE

In a post on X, the official DOGE handle listed the number of spending by US taxpayers that has been cancelled, including $22 million in funding intended for ‘voter turnout in India’ and $ 39 million for “fiscal federalism” and “biodiversity conservation” in Nepal.

This is part of DOGE’s continued effort to outline significant changes in government spending over the last few weeks.

About Nepal’s  “Fiscal Federalism” Programme

With the promulgation of the 2015 constitution, Nepal embarked on its federalism journey and established three tiers of government– one federal, seven provinces, and 753 local levels in 2017. 

The fiscal federalism programme is based on the canon that “single penny expense is not levied without the consent of parliament”

To adhere to this norm, Nepal’s Constitution has clear provisions with regard to the financial procedures of the federal, provincial and local governments, according to a report by International Alert.

About DOGE

The effort by what the Donald Trump administration calls DOGE is intended to cut government costs drastically. Musk’s department has swept through federal agencies in recent weeks searching for spending cuts as part of Trump’s goal to overhaul and shrink the US government.

Washington:

Tech billionaire Elon Musk, who has been tapped by President Donald Trump to lead federal cost-cutting efforts, said Tuesday that the United States would go “bankrupt” without cuts.

Musk, who leads the efforts under the the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), spoke at the White House with Trump, who has in recent weeks unleashed a flurry of orders aimed at slashing federal spending.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

The world’s richest man said he was taking aim at hundreds of billions of dollars in government spending [File]
| Photo Credit: Brandon Bell

Elon Musk outlined plans Wednesday for his new role as “efficiency” czar – signalling an assault on federal spending and staffing that would be backed by President-elect Donald Trump’s executive powers and a conservative Supreme Court.

Writing in the Wall Street Journal, the world’s richest man said he was taking aim at hundreds of billions of dollars in government spending – including funding for public broadcasting and international aid – as well as at bureaucracy that represents, according to him, an “existential threat” to US democracy.

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO, who also owns the X social media platform, said that he and Vivek Ramaswamy, a fellow businessman and Trump loyalist, would work to slash federal regulations and make major administrative changes.

“We are entrepreneurs, not politicians. We will serve as outside volunteers, not federal officials or employees,” Musk and Ramaswamy wrote in their most detailed remarks since Trump named them heads of a new so-called Department of Government Efficiency.

They said DOGE – expected to function more as an advisory group rather than a formal department – will prepare a list of regulations which Trump could invalidate unilaterally.

“When the president nullifies thousands of such regulations, critics will allege executive overreach. In fact, it will be correcting the executive overreach of thousands of regulations promulgated by administrative fiat that were never authorized by Congress,” they said.

Musk and Ramaswamy added that a reduction in regulations would pave the way for “mass head-count reductions across the federal bureaucracy,” and said DOGE would aim to cut more than $500 billion in government expenditures.

“With a decisive electoral mandate and a 6-3 conservative majority on the Supreme Court, DOGE has a historic opportunity for structural reductions in the federal government,” they said.

Supreme Court allies

Moves to gut programs will almost certainly face political pushback, even from Republicans, and prompt legal challenges.

However, Musk and Ramaswamy voiced confidence that recent rulings by the conservative-dominated Supreme Court would allow them to push through the ambitious agenda.

“With a decisive electoral mandate and a 6-3 conservative majority on the Supreme Court, DOGE has a historic opportunity for structural reductions in the federal government,” they said.

They said that DOGE’s top goal was to not be needed by July 4, 2026, which was described as an expiration date for the project.

Musk become a close ally to Trump during his campaign, reportedly spending over $100 million to boost his presidential bid and joining him at rallies.

However, with Musk’s businesses all having varying degrees of interactions with US and foreign governments, his new position also raises concerns about conflict of interest.

The South African-born billionaire invited Trump to watch a test flight of his SpaceX company on Tuesday in a sign of ever closer ties between the pair.

But their relationship – defined by combustible personalities and some past policy differences – could be subject to friction once the reality of political life sets in.

File picture of Elon Musk with Donald Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania
| Photo Credit: Reuters

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said on Tuesday (November 12, 2024) Elon Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy will lead the newly created Department of Government Efficiency.

Mr. Musk and Mr. Ramaswamy “will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies,” Mr. Trump said in a statement.

Mr. Trump said their work would conclude by July 4, 2026, adding that a smaller and more efficient government would be a “gift” to the country on the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

The appointments reward two Trump supporters from the private sector.

Mr. Musk leads electric car company Tesla, social media platform X and rocket company SpaceX, while Mr. Ramaswamy is the founder of a pharmaceutical company who ran for the Republican presidential nomination against Mr. Trump and then threw his support behind the former president after dropping out.

Mr. Musk gave millions of dollars to support Mr. Trump’s presidential campaign and publicly appeared with him. Mr. Trump had said he would offer Mr. Musk, the world’s richest person, a role in his administration promoting government efficiency.

The acronym of the new department — DOGE — coincides with the name of the cryptocurrency Dogecoin that Musk promotes.

“This will send shockwaves through the system, and anyone involved in government waste, which is a lot of people!” Mr. Musk said, according to Mr. Trump’s statement, which called the new government initiative “potentially ‘The Manhattan Project’ of our time,” referring to the U.S. plan to build the atomic bomb that helped end World War Two.