"Really, I want to turn it off and let the courts figure out how they want to run a federal agency,” said interim SSA Commissioner Lee Dudek.

The head of the Social Security Administration is backing down on his threat to shut down the agency after the White House intervened. On Friday, Interim SSA Comissioner Lee Dudek threatened to close the agency over a judge’s ruling barring Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from accessing personal data for millions of Americans—including Social Security numbers,

The Social Security Administration administers benefits for tens of millions of older Americans and people with disabilities. Since taking office in January, Trump has vowed to reduce the size of government,