Michelle King Biography
Michelle King was the acting commissioner of the Social Security Administration prior to her resignation. She resigned from the position after Department of Government Efficiency sought access to sensitive personal data about millions of Americans held by the agency.
She was awarded the Distinguished Presidential Rank Award for sustained, exceptional performance in 2023.
Michelle King Qualifications
Michelle graduated cum laude with a dual Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and Public Administration from Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois in 1993 and earned a minor in Speech Communications. She holds a Masters of Public Administration from Northern Illinois University with a concentration in Public Policy and Organizational Development.
She has a Public Leadership Certificate from Harvard’s Kennedy School and an Executive Leadership certificate from American University. She is also a graduate of the Duke Executive Leadership and the Federal Executive Institute’s Leadership in a Democratic Society programs.
Michelle King Social Security Administration (SSA)
Michelle was named the acting commissioner for Social Security in January 2025 while Frank Bisignano, the president’s nominee for permanent commissioner, is vetted by the Senate. In this position, she provided oversight for the programs and services the agency administers.
She has worked with the agency since the beginning of her career, starting as a bilingual Claims Representative in 1994 in the Sterling, Illinois field office. In 1998, she moved to the agency’s headquarters and began working in the Office of Public Service and Operations Support (OPSOS) where she held various positions.
In 2007, she was appointed to the Senior Executive Service as the Deputy Associate Commissioner for OPSOS. She was the lead Executive for the Ready Retirement initiative from 2007-2009, developing the agency’s online retirement, disability, and Medicare application, iClaim.
She has held executive positions in the Office of Retirement and Disability Policy and the Office of Budget, Finance, and Management (BFM), including serving as the agency’s Chief Financial Officer.
Prior to becoming acting commissioner, she was the Deputy Commissioner for Operations where she was responsible for the agency’s nationwide network of over 1,200 field offices, 7 Social Security Card Centers, 24 national call centers, 8 processing centers, 55 area directors offices, 15 workload support units, 10 regional offices, and 4 headquarters support components.
She also oversaw 52 State disability determination services that adjudicate disability claims and 6 federal benefit field regions around the world that provide service to the public and help administer the agency’s Retirement, Disability, and Supplemental Security Income programs and other services.
Michelle Resigned due to DOGE wanting Access to Sensitive Data
On 16, 2025 Michelle resigned from her position as Acting commissioner of the Social Security Administration. This was prompted by Elon Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service over its attempts to access sensitive government records. President Donald Trump appointed Leland Dudek, a manager in charge of Social Security’s anti-fraud office as her replacement.
DOGE members were seeking access to an internal data repository that contains extensive personal information about Americans. The agency’s systems contain financial data, employment information and addresses for anyone with a Social Security number.
Social Security payments account for about $1.5 trillion, or a fifth, of annual federal spending in the United States. The President has said he is looking for ways to cut wasteful or improper spending from the retirement program but he pledged not to enact cuts to the program’s retirement benefits.
In 2024, the Social Security Administration’s inspector general did an audit that found that from 2015 to 2022, the agency paid almost $8.6 trillion in benefits and made approximately $71.8 billion, or less than 1 percent, in improper payments that usually involved recipients getting too much money.
Rep. Jimmy Gomez and all Democratic members of the Ways and Means Committee had previously demanded answers from Michelle concerning data brach by DOGE
On February 11, 2025, congress of the United States had written to Michelle seeking answers on whether the DOGE team had sought access to any of SSA’s systems and whether anyone had been granted access of the system. They also wanted to know the potential risks the public and Social Security beneficiaries face if their sensitive SSA records are exposed to unqualified external parties.
“It is impossible to overstate the importance of Social Security benefits to our nation’s people – or the potentially dire consequences if a beneficiary’s personal information is compromised. That is why we have been alarmed by reports that Elon Musk and the so-called U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (“DOGE”) gained access to the Department of the Treasury systems that deliver Social Security benefits, and that the DOGE will soon turn its attention to the Social Security Administration (SSA).
SSA establishes Social Security Numbers (SSNs) for nearly all Americans, and the
agency’s beneficiary payment systems manage some of the most personal information such as banking information, home addresses, and SSNs. SSA’s confidential files can also include the reasons for benefit receipt, such as whether a person is receiving benefits because a parent or spouse has died; whether a person is receiving benefits due to a disability, and their specific medical conditions; or whether a child is receiving foster care services. Seniors, survivors,
people with disabilities, and children who rely on Social Security benefits must be able to trust that their personal information is safeguarded, especially from those whose only interest is their own wealth”