Agency meetings are recorded and shared online along with other measures and informed to the public and staff.
The Social Security Agency (SSA) revealed several new initiatives on Monday to increase transparency and accountability under the new Trump administration.
“President Trump makes it clear that a good government must serve the people. This is transparent about how the government will make decisions and operates as a good steward of resources left to it,” said Social Security Commissioner Lee Dudeck.
The SSA holds weekly operational reporting meetings where authorities discuss a variety of issues. Since March 14th, the meeting has been recorded and published on the department’s YouTube channel.
The page details the challenges facing SSA, the options available to agencies to address these issues, and the final decisions made by representatives.
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According to the latest update, SSA has partnered with the General Services Bureau to terminate 64 leases.
The agency said, “We have submitted a reduction formulation (RIF) plan to the Human Resources Management Office (OPM) by the deadline of March 13, 2025.”
“If the plan is approved or likely to start, there is no date set.”
“More than 70 million people rely on Social Security benefits and millions contact other services each year, including requesting new Social Security cards,” the agency said.
SSA recently announced an initiative to strengthen identity verification of beneficiaries who do not use “my Social Security Accounts” when applying for benefits or requesting changes to directly address deposit bank information.
Court Order against Doge
The SSA is working with the Elon Musk-led Government Efficiency Office (DOGE) to identify ways to make agencies more efficient.
The ruling came as part of a case in which the plaintiffs alleged that Doge’s “nearly unlimited” access to SSA data violated privacy rights and posed a security risk.
“The American people may praise and support the Trump administration’s mission to eradicate fraud, waste and bloat from federal agencies, including the SSA. But by what means and how?” wrote Judge Ellen Hollander of the US District Court for the Maryland District.
“The Doge team is basically fishing on their fishing expeditions at SSA for a more fraud epidemic than suspected.”
Trump administration lawyers argued that the plaintiffs were not standing because they were not injured.
Doge has a 10-person member team of SSA’s federal employees, allowing seven individuals to have read-only access to agency systems or personally identifiable information. Officials are undergoing privacy training, of which eight of them have given them background checks, the lawyer said.
“Both stock and public interest support, the government is allowing employees to hire and provide employees with access to the systems they need for their duties,” they said.
“President Trump supports keeping his Social Security office open and bringing the right checks to the right people. SSA employees and their work will continue under the TRO,” he said.
