Social Security Head Calls Off Shutting Agency After Court Order

The acting head of the Social Security Administration retreated from his threat to shut down the office after a federal judge said an order restricting data access for Elon Musk and his cost-cutting team doesn’t apply to agency employees.

In a letter released Friday, US District Judge Ellen Hollander said the order she issued the day before didn’t apply to nearly all of the agency’s employees, only to Musk and affiliates of his Department of Government Efficiency. “Any suggestion that the order may require the delay or suspension of benefit payments is incorrect,” the judge said.