Dudek’s comments, delivered to a group of senior staff and Social Security advocates attending both in person and virtually, offer an extraordinary window into the thinking of a top agency official in the volatile early days of the second Trump administration.

The administration says it’s planning to enhance security for bank information, denying a report of broad cuts to phone service.

DOGE making sweeping cuts at the Social Security Administration “would be catastrophic for the people in our country,” the acting head of the agency reportedly said.