Ex-Commissioner Says DOGE Ran Social Security 'Like a McDonald's' That Constantly Screams at Staff

The former acting head of the Social Security Administration has delivered a blistering account of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), accusing its officials of arriving with little understanding of how the agency worked while pushing rapid cuts that, he says, risked disrupting benefits for millions of Americans.

Leland Dudek, who served as acting commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA) until May 2026, made the remarks during approximately 15 hours of interviews with investigative newsroom ProPublica. His account offers one of the most detailed insider descriptions yet of DOGE's efforts to reshape one of the federal government's largest and most complex agencies.

According to Dudek, DOGE staff approached Social Security with a private-sector mindset that failed to account for the legal, technical and operational complexity involved in administering retirement, disability and survivor benefits for roughly 70 million Americans.

'They Thought Government Worked Like McDonald's'

Among Dudek's strongest criticisms was his comparison between DOGE's management style and the way large retail businesses operate.

Speaking to ProPublica, he described the team's approach as:

'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 remark reflected Dudek's broader argument that DOGE officials underestimated the complexity of Social Security's systems while demanding rapid organisational changes that could not safely be implemented.

Unlike a commercial business, the Social Security Administration oversees one of the world's largest public benefit programmes, processing retirement pensions, disability payments, Medicare enrolment and survivor benefits under thousands of pages of federal law and decades-old technology infrastructure.

According to Dudek, DOGE staff appeared frustrated by the pace at which changes could be made and repeatedly pushed for immediate reductions in staffing and operations.

The 'Dead Sea Scroll' of Social Security

To illustrate the agency's complexity, Dudek recalled showing DOGE officials an enormous systems diagram stretching roughly 20 feet across a wall.

Employees had nicknamed the chart the "Dead Sea Scroll."

The sprawling document mapped the interconnected computer systems responsible for processing millions of benefit claims and payments each month.

Dudek said he taped the chart across an office wall in an effort to demonstrate just how interconnected and fragile the agency's technology infrastructure had become over decades of incremental development.

According to his account, the exercise did little to change DOGE's approach.

He said officials remained focused on accelerating staff reductions and organisational restructuring rather than fully understanding how the agency's systems operated.

Trying to Protect the Agency

Dudek told ProPublica that his relationship with DOGE evolved dramatically over time.

Initially, he attempted to cooperate with the new team, believing collaboration offered the best chance of protecting the agency from more disruptive proposals.

Later, however, he said his role shifted toward quietly slowing or redirecting some of DOGE's demands from within the organisation.

According to Dudek, DOGE representatives frequently arrived at his office without warning, requesting additional staffing cuts or proposing that entire divisions be eliminated on short notice.

Although those requests were often presented as recommendations, he said they carried the practical force of directives.

The former commissioner also admitted that the pressure altered his own management style.

He told ProPublica that he deliberately "put on a persona of a yeller" during the early stages of the restructuring, acknowledging that longtime colleagues noticed a significant change in his behaviour.

Warnings About Potential Disruption

Dudek's concerns were not limited to private conversations.

According to ProPublica, recordings obtained from a closed-door internal meeting captured Dudek warning that sweeping cuts similar to those implemented at other federal agencies could prove 'catastrophic for the people in our country.'

He reportedly expressed concern that Social Security's systems could not absorb rapid workforce reductions without increasing operational risks.

During the restructuring, the agency reduced staffing through layoffs and voluntary buyouts while also cancelling or scaling back several information technology contracts.

Some current and former employees told ProPublica that those decisions risked weakening the very systems DOGE claimed it wanted to modernise and streamline.

The staffing reductions occurred as the Social Security Administration marked its 90th anniversary, adding symbolic weight to what became one of the agency's largest reorganisations in decades.

DOGE's Influence Continues

Although Elon Musk has since stepped back from his formal involvement with DOGE, Dudek argued that the department's influence continues inside the Social Security Administration.

According to ProPublica, several former DOGE personnel have accepted permanent positions within the agency, while Senate-confirmed Commissioner Frank Bisignano, who succeeded Dudek, has continued implementing aspects of the restructuring agenda.

That suggests DOGE's programme has evolved from a temporary reform initiative into a longer-term institutional shift.

Rather than disappearing with changes in leadership, many of its priorities have become embedded within the agency's ongoing operations.

White House Rejects Dudek's Account

The White House strongly disputed Dudek's portrayal of events.

In a statement responding to ProPublica's reporting, a White House spokesperson characterised Dudek as a disgruntled former official, arguing that the investigation relied heavily on the claims of someone who had admitted leaking information to the media, misleading colleagues and making false statements while serving in government.

The administration also pointed to an opinion article Dudek published on his final day in office praising President Donald Trump, arguing that his later criticisms conflicted with his earlier public support.

The White House continues to defend DOGE as an effort to improve government efficiency, reduce bureaucracy and eliminate unnecessary spending across federal agencies.

Debate Over Government Reform

Dudek's account has added a new perspective to the ongoing debate surrounding DOGE's role in reshaping the federal government.

Supporters argue that many government agencies require modernisation and stronger financial discipline after decades of expanding bureaucracy.

Critics counter that rapid restructuring risks disrupting essential public services, particularly agencies such as Social Security that process millions of payments every month under highly complex legal and technical frameworks.

Whether DOGE's reforms ultimately improve efficiency or create longer-term operational challenges remains an open question. What Dudek's testimony makes clear is that the effort to transform Social Security involved significant internal conflict, competing visions of government management and lasting disagreements over how one of America's most important public institutions should operate.