Latest news with #EnumerationatBirth
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Social Security commissioner admits anger at Maine governor over Trump clash was behind change to newborn policy
In an extraordinary admission, Social Security Administration acting Commissioner Lee Dudek told the New York Times that his decision to require parents of newborns in Maine to apply in person for a Social Security number in an office rather than by simply filling out a form at the hospital came about because he "was ticked" at the state's governor, Janet Mills. 'I was ticked at the governor of Maine for not being real cordial to the president,' Dudek told the paper in reference to a testy White House exchange between Mills and President Trump over his executive order banning transgender women from competing in women's sports. 'I screwed up. I'll admit I screwed up.' On March 5, Maine's Department of Health and Human Services sent out an email notifying hospitals and birth centers that 'effective immediately, the option for parents to participate in the enumeration at birth process will be suspended,' the Portland Press Herald reported, adding that the agency was following guidance given to it by the Social Security Administration. The suspension of the program in Maine drew swift rebukes from health care providers in the state. 'It makes absolutely no sense to me at all to do this,' Dr. Joe Anderson, advocacy chair of the Maine chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, told the Press Herald. 'I see no logical explanation for forcing parents and newborns — with 11,000 babies born in Maine every year — to sit in a crowded waiting room, when we have done this easily, securely and efficiently for decades.' On March 7, Dudek reversed his decision to suspend the decades-old policy that is in place in all 50 states, calling it a mistake. 'I recently directed Social Security employees to end two contracts which affected the good people of the state of Maine. The two contracts are Enumeration at Birth (EAB), which helps new parents quickly request a Social Security number and card for their newborn before leaving the hospital, and Electronic Death Registry (EDR) which shares recorded deaths with Social Security,' Dudek said in the statement posted to the Social Security website. 'In retrospect, I realize that ending these contracts created an undue burden on the people of Maine, which was not the intent. For that, I apologize and have directed that both contracts be immediately reinstated. EAB and EDR continue in place for every state and were not affected. As a leader, I will admit my mistakes and make them right.' On Saturday, Trump demanded that Mills offer him a "full-throated apology" for challenging the legality of his executive order on trans athletes. "While the State of Maine has apologized for their Governor's strong, but totally incorrect, statement about men playing in women's sports while at the White House House Governor's Conference, we have not heard from the Governor herself, and she is the one that matters in such cases," Trump posted on his Truth Social platform Saturday morning. Mills responded to Trump's demand on Monday at an event in Bangor. "If the current occupant of the White House wants to protect women and girls, he should start by protecting the women and teenage girls who are suffering miscarriages and dying because they can't get basic, lifesaving health care in states across this country," Mills said. "If he truly cares about women and girls and people of this country, let's see the economic plan. Let's see the health care plan. Let's see the education plan." For now, the enumeration at birth procedure remains in place in Maine. On its website, the Social Security Administration describes the process as one of convenience. 'The Enumeration at Birth (EAB) program eliminates the need for a parent to gather the necessary documents, complete an Application for a Social Security Card (SS-5), and take or mail original documents to a local Social Security office for processing,' SSA states. Citing his missteps as commissioner and Trump's current pick to head the SSA, Dudek told the Times that he did not expect his tenure at Social Security to last very long. 'I can't imagine the nominee would want to keep me after the way I've been doing things here,' Dudek said.
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Social Security commissioner admits anger at Maine governor over Trump clash was behind change to newborn policy
In an extraordinary admission, Social Security Administration acting Commissioner Lee Dudek told the New York Times that his decision to require parents of newborns in Maine to apply in person for a Social Security number in an office rather than by simply filling out a form at the hospital came about because he "was ticked" at the state's governor, Janet Mills. 'I was ticked at the governor of Maine for not being real cordial to the president,' Dudek told the paper in reference to a testy White House exchange between Mills and President Trump over his executive order banning transgender women from competing in women's sports. 'I screwed up. I'll admit I screwed up.' On March 5, Maine's Department of Health and Human Services sent out an email notifying hospitals and birth centers that 'effective immediately, the option for parents to participate in the enumeration at birth process will be suspended,' the Portland Press Herald reported, adding that the agency was following guidance given to it by the Social Security Administration. The suspension of the program in Maine drew swift rebukes from health care providers in the state. 'It makes absolutely no sense to me at all to do this,' Dr. Joe Anderson, advocacy chair of the Maine chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, told the Press Herald. 'I see no logical explanation for forcing parents and newborns — with 11,000 babies born in Maine every year — to sit in a crowded waiting room, when we have done this easily, securely and efficiently for decades.' On March 7, Dudek reversed his decision to suspend the decades-old policy that is in place in all 50 states, calling it a mistake. 'I recently directed Social Security employees to end two contracts which affected the good people of the state of Maine. The two contracts are Enumeration at Birth (EAB), which helps new parents quickly request a Social Security number and card for their newborn before leaving the hospital, and Electronic Death Registry (EDR) which shares recorded deaths with Social Security,' Dudek said in the statement posted to the Social Security website. 'In retrospect, I realize that ending these contracts created an undue burden on the people of Maine, which was not the intent. For that, I apologize and have directed that both contracts be immediately reinstated. EAB and EDR continue in place for every state and were not affected. As a leader, I will admit my mistakes and make them right.' On Saturday, Trump demanded that Mills offer him a "full-throated apology" for challenging the legality of his executive order on trans athletes. "While the State of Maine has apologized for their Governor's strong, but totally incorrect, statement about men playing in women's sports while at the White House House Governor's Conference, we have not heard from the Governor herself, and she is the one that matters in such cases," Trump posted on his Truth Social platform Saturday morning. Mills responded to Trump's demand on Monday at an event in Bangor. "If the current occupant of the White House wants to protect women and girls, he should start by protecting the women and teenage girls who are suffering miscarriages and dying because they can't get basic, lifesaving health care in states across this country," Mills said. "If he truly cares about women and girls and people of this country, let's see the economic plan. Let's see the health care plan. Let's see the education plan." For now, the enumeration at birth procedure remains in place in Maine. On its website, the Social Security Administration describes the process as one of convenience. 'The Enumeration at Birth (EAB) program eliminates the need for a parent to gather the necessary documents, complete an Application for a Social Security Card (SS-5), and take or mail original documents to a local Social Security office for processing,' SSA states. Citing his missteps as commissioner and Trump's current pick to head the SSA, Dudek told the Times that he did not expect his tenure at Social Security to last very long. 'I can't imagine the nominee would want to keep me after the way I've been doing things here,' Dudek said.
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Social Security chief reverses course on ending contracts affecting Maine: ‘I apologize'
Social Security Administration (SSA) acting Commissioner Lee Dudek on Friday reversed the agency's decision to change how newborns in Maine receive their Social Security cards, apologizing for 'an undue burden' on people in the state. 'In retrospect, I realize that ending these contracts created an undue burden on the people of Maine, which was not the intent,' he said in a statement. 'For that, I apologize and have directed that both contracts be immediately reinstated. EAB and EDR continue in place for every state and were not affected,' he added. The Enumeration at Birth (EAB) program enables parents to obtain a Social Security card for their newborn at the same time they register the birth, ending the need to collect documents and fill out an application separately. Dudek stopped short of explaining the reasoning behind the SSA's initial proposal to discontinue birth enumeration for residents of the state. Dudek a day earlier had announced that parents in Maine would not be able to register their newborns for a Social Security number at the hospital and would be required to do so by visiting the state's Social Security offices. This incident follows a recent exchange between Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) and President Trump at the White House, in which she confronted him about his executive order preventing transgender women from competing in women's and girls' sports, stating, 'I'll see you in court.' Last month, former acting SSA Commissioner Michelle King resigned over the Department of Government Efficiency's request to access recipients' data, citing concerns with its examination by a nonelected official. The Hill reached out to the SSA and the Department of Human and Health Services for comment. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump Official Makes Humiliating Social Security U-Turn
A Trump official has been forced into a humiliating climb-down after trying to make life more difficult for the parents of newborns in a state whose governor is feuding with the president. The acting Social Security commissioner on Thursday announced that Maine parents would not be able to register their newborns for a social security number at the hospital, sparking an immediate backlash. But less than 24 hours later, Lee Dudek reversed course and apologized. 'In retrospect, I realize that ending these contracts created an undue burden on the people of Maine, which was not the intent. For that, I apologize,' Lee Dudek said in a statement. Dudek offered no explanation for his move, but Trump recently attacked Maine Governor Janet Mills for refusing to comply with his order banning transgender women from competing in women's sports. 'See you in court‚" Mills said in response to Trump's threat to strip the state of its federal funding. It's unclear why the Enumeration at Birth (EAB) program, available in all states since 1997, was halted, although it may have been targeted by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, with Musk himself calling Social Security a 'Ponzi scheme.' Dudek, a mid-level employee at the Social Security Administration until three weeks ago, was elevated to acting commissioner by Trump after he was initially placed on leave for helping DOGE infiltrate the administration. In a now deleted LinkedIn post, he wrote, 'I confess. I bullied agency executives, shared executive contact information, and circumvented the chain of command to connect DOGE with the people who get stuff done.' The post apparently caught Trump's eye, who then appointed Dudek as acting commissioner, putting him in charge of overseeing the monthly benefits for more than 70 million people. Martin O'Malley, who headed the Social Security Administration from 2023 to 2024, recently warned that social security checks could stop going out within 30 to 90 days. Democrat Sen. Elizabeth Warren criticized Dudek's appointment to the post in a scathing letter to him. 'The circumstances of your appointment raise questions about the truthfulness of President Trump's assertion that 'Social Security will not be touched [by DOGE],' she wrote. Thursday's decision to cancel the EAB program was widely criticized, with advocates for pediatrics in Maine calling the move as unnecessary, unfair and burdensome. The Electronic Death Registry program (EDR), which automatically shares death records with Social Security, was also canceled before being reinstated on Friday. When the Daily Beast reached out to Dudek's press office for comment, it referred the Beast back to the press release without offering any further explanation for the move.
Los Angeles Times
07-03-2025
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
Maine parents will get babies' Social Security numbers in hospital after all
SCARBOROUGH, Maine — The acting head of the Social Security Administration on Friday rescinded and apologized for an order that would have required Maine parents to register their newborns for Social Security numbers at a federal office rather than the hospital. The order drew widespread condemnation from medical organizations and public officials who described it as unnecessary and punitive. The practice of allowing parents to register a newborn for a Social Security number at a hospital or other birthing site, called the Enumeration at Birth program, has been common for decades. Acting Commissioner Leland Dudek said he recently directed Social Security employees to end an Enumeration at Birth contract for Maine. He said he will 'admit my mistakes and make them right' by reinstating the contract. 'In retrospect, I realize that ending these contracts created an undue burden on the people of Maine, which was not the intent,' Dudek said in a statement. The confusion over Social Security in Maine is the latest example of a bumpy cutback rollout amid President Trump's bid to shrink the size of government. The Trump administration halted its firings of hundreds of federal employees who worked on nuclear weapons programs last month. It also moved to rehire medical device, food safety and other workers lost to mass firings at the Food and Drug Administration. Planned tariffs on key trading partners have been similarly chaotic. Dudek did not immediately provide a reason for terminating the Enumeration at Birth contract. Nancy Altman, executive director of the Social Security Works advocacy group said despite the agency's reversal, 'the damage has been done.' 'Without those contracts, SSA did not automatically know who was born in Maine — or who died,' Altman said. 'This will create huge headaches for families, as well as Social Security's rapidly shrinking workforce, to fix.' The confusion came as Trump's so-called Department of Government Efficiency is targeting federal agencies for layoffs and cutbacks. Some of those cutbacks have affected the Enumeration at Birth program. The DOGE website shows the cancellation of contracts related to Enumeration at Birth in five states and the Northern Mariana Islands. The five states listed are Arizona, Maryland, Michigan, New Mexico and Rhode Island. Maine is not listed. Limited information is provided about the canceled contracts, but they appear to concern the collection of race and ethnicity records. Dudek's statement said the Enumeration at Birth program was 'in place for every state' as of Friday. The plan to scrap Enumeration at Birth in Maine also arrived at a time when state officials are sparring with the federal government. Maine Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, and Trump exchanged words last month during a meeting of governors in which Trump vowed to pull federal funding from the state over the issue of the inclusion of transgender athletes in high school sports. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services later told Mills that the state was in violation of Title IX, which prohibits sex-based discrimination in education programs that receive federal assistance. The conflict remains unresolved. Whittle and Hussein write for the Associated Press.
