The temporary leader of the Social Security Administration should resign for “outrageous” political retaliation against the state of Maine, Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) said Wednesday.
Earlier this month, the Social Security Administration canceled contracts with Maine’s health department that had allowed parents to request Social Security numbers for newborns at the hospital, which is how 99% of newborns get their numbers in the U.S.
The contracts were quickly reinstated amid suspicion they’d been terminated as payback for Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) standing up to President Donald Trump in a White House meeting in February.
This week, Leland Dudek, the acting commissioner of Social Security, acknowledged he was “upset” with Mills for defying the president.
“We’ve now learned that the acting head of the SSA did, in fact, punish our state for daring to question the President. This is absolutely outrageous,” Pingree said in a statement.
“I believe Secretary Dudek should resign immediately ― or be removed from his position,” Pingree said. “The SSA is simply too important, and affects the lives of too many people, for it to be led by someone who is willing to throw an entire state into turmoil, all because its Governor refused to be intimidated by the actions of a President who is acting illegally.”
Dudek told HuffPost during a press call on Tuesday evening that he canceled the contracts by mistake because he didn’t understand them, but also that he didn’t like how Mills behaved in the February meeting when she told Trump she would “see you in court” over his efforts to force states to disallow transgender athletes from participating in girls’ sports.
“I think when you bring people together to have a cordial exchange, to show governments working together, you need to be respectful of each other,” Dudek said.
Dudek denied it was political retaliation, but offered no other reason for the contract cancellations, which also affected electronic death records. Every state has similar contracts; no other state saw theirs canceled.
Pingree alleged a broader pattern of retaliation against Maine, pointing to the Trump administration canceling a grant for Maine fisheries and temporarily withholding $100 million from the University of Maine System.
“Ever since Governor Mills stood up to the President to defend the laws and values of our state, there have been several instances where the Administration seems to have singled out Maine for retribution,” Pingree said. “The chaos and confusion all this has caused is unconscionable.”
