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,

Howard Lutnick suggested in an interview that only “fraudsters” would complain if their checks don’t arrive this month.

The agency's leader, Leland Dudek, who has been cooperating with a Musk-led group tasked with reducing government waste, said in a statement on Friday that the court had clarified its ruling.