Hi Reader,
This year, as the Department of Government Efficiency stormed into the Social Security Administration and set up shop, Leland Dudek took center stage at the agency. Dudek had been a midlevel bureaucrat there when he was suddenly promoted to acting commissioner. His tenure at the top was short — he served from February to May, at the height of the tumult. He is also the first agency head to speak in detail and on the record about what it was like working with DOGE.
ProPublica spent 15 hours speaking with Dudek about his experience. He described the chaos of working with DOGE and how he tried first to collaborate and then to protect the agency, resulting in turns that were at various times alarming, confounding and tragicomic.
At first, Dudek was hopeful that DOGE could help upgrade the aging agency, which was sorely in need of a technological overhaul. But that optimism faded quickly, as DOGE focused fruitlessly on trying to find evidence of fraud. Dudek said DOGE began acting like “a bunch of people who didn’t know what they were doing, with ideas of how government should run — thinking it should work like a McDonald’s or a bank — screaming all the time.” The DOGE team prioritized scoring quick wins that allowed it to post triumphant tweets and press releases while squandering the chance for systemic change at an agency that genuinely needs it. Ultimately, no one had a more complete view of the missed opportunity than Dudek.
The White House, presented with extensive questions for the article, sent a one-paragraph statement disparaging ProPublica and Dudek. ProPublica’s story, White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said, “is largely based around the comments of a disgruntled former employee who openly admitted to leaking to the media, manipulating his colleagues, and repeatedly telling lies from his official position.”
Dudek told ProPublica that he decided to speak because he wishes that “those who govern” would have more frank and honest conversations with the public.
We are living through a significant transformation in the scope and scale of the federal government. ProPublica remains a beacon of accountability in an age where misinformation is pervasive and institutional trust is eroding. Our nonprofit structure sets us apart from many of our media colleagues, as we aren’t beholden to a corporate owner, shareholders, page views or advertisers. Rather, ProPublica’s independence enables us to report without fear or favor, following investigations wherever they lead. Join now, and help us continue to give readers an independent, verifiable account of what’s happening. This work has never been more necessary.
Thanks so much,
Jill Shepherd
Proud ProPublican
