DOGE's McDonald's Mentality Risks Catastrophic Consequences for Social Security

Leland Dudek, former acting head of the Social Security Administration (SSA), has given a scathing account of the Department of Government Efficiency's (DOGE) efforts to transform one of the federal government's largest agencies. In a series of interviews with investigative newsroom ProPublica, Dudek described DOGE staff 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.'

Dudek served as acting commissioner until May 2026 and warned that DOGE's approach to reforming SSA risked disrupting benefits for millions of Americans. He compared the agency's systems to 'the Dead Sea Scroll,' a massive diagram mapping the interconnected computer systems responsible for processing benefit claims and payments each month.

Dudek attempted to cooperate with DOGE initially, but later shifted his role to quietly slowing or redirecting some of the team's demands from within the organisation. He admitted that the pressure had altered his own management style, leading him to 'put on a persona of a yeller' during the early stages of restructuring.

DOGE staff repeatedly pushed for rapid organisational changes and staffing reductions, despite Dudek's concerns that these could prove catastrophic for the agency's systems. The SSA reduced staffing through layoffs and voluntary buyouts while cancelling or scaling back several information technology contracts, raising fears about the long-term impact on public services.