In today’s newsletter: The top official at the Social Security Administration stepped down after clashing over sensitive data with Elon Musk’s DOGE. All on board survive after a Delta jet flipped over as it landed in Toronto. And what the rebuilding process looks like for Los Angeles homeowners.
Here’s what to know today.
Top Social Security official leaves after disagreement with DOGE over sensitive data
The top official at the Social Security Administration, Michelle King, stepped down from her position this weekend after she refused a request from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency to access sensitive government records at the agency, according to two sources familiar with the situation.
The agency oversees the management of payments for more than 70 million Americans. President Donald Trump has vowed not to enact cuts to retirement benefits.
One of the sources familiar with the situation, Nancy Altman, the president of Social Security Works, a left-leaning group focused on protecting and expanding Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, told NBC News she learned of the situation after speaking with several current officials at the agency. Altman said some of the information involved in the dispute included Americans’ bank information, social security numbers, earnings records, marital statuses, dates of birth and in some cases, medical records if a person has applied for disability benefits.
Trump appointed Leland Dudek, a manager in charge of Social Security’s anti-fraud office, as acting commissioner of the Social Security Administration after King stepped down.
King’s departure is the latest in a wave of exits from senior officials whose agencies have come into DOGE’s crosshairs.
Read more:
- The Trump administration is preparing to fire hundreds of high-level Department of Homeland Security employees this week, sources say.
- Hundreds of employees with the Federal Aviation Administration were fired over the weekend.
- New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is planning to discuss a “path forward,” after four of Eric Adams’ deputies resigned amid the mayor’s agreement to work with Trump.
- A federal judge in Washington, D.C. hinted that she might not place immediate roadblocks to DOGE’s access to government agencies.
Delta jet overturns in crash at Toronto airport, injuring 18
At least 18 people were injured when a Delta Air Lines plane overturned as it landed at Toronto Pearson International Airport. There were no deaths in the crash and none of the injured were in critical condition, officials said.
Video showed a surreal scene with the plane flipped completely upside down as emergency workers evacuated passengers and attended to the crash site.
Eighty people, 76 passengers and four crew members, were on the plane, a CRJ-900, the FAA said. The airport’s fire chief said the runway was dry and there were no crosswind conditions when the Delta plane overturned.
For some L.A. wildfire survivors, rebuilding won’t be an option
After the wildfires in Los Angeles, California, displaced homeowners and renters are facing an economic landscape rife with long-standing affordability and equity concerns, highlighting the divide between those who can afford to start over and those who can’t when it comes to rebuilding.
“It’s intimidating,” said Kaitlyn Little, who grew up in Pacific Palisades, one of hundreds of distinct neighborhoods that make up the city of Los Angeles. “It just reinforces the feelings of uncertainty and uneasiness about what the future of that town really does look like.”
At least 29 people were killed in the Jan. 7 fires and more than 16,000 structures, the majority residences, were destroyed. Little finds herself in a market where the average home price in Los Angeles County is just shy of $1 million and the average rent is nearly $3,000, according to Zillow. At this point, Little said, she cannot afford to rebuild, much less buy a home.
Little and her family is just one of many residents who lost homes in last month’s fires, who fear their insurance payouts won’t be enough to cover the cost of rebuilding.
Read All About It
- The leader of a cultlike group that has been linked to multiple killings, including the fatal shooting of a border patrol officer in Vermont last month, was arrested in Maryland.
- A body matching the description of a missing University of Colorado student was found in “hard-to-reach terrain” in Boulder County.
- Aubrey Plaza made her first public appearance since her husband, director Jeff Baena, died last month.
- An Ohio sex worker charged with fatally drugging four customers and trying to kill a fifth has been found competent to stand trial.
- The official social media accounts of Kate Middleton and Prince William shared four portraits created by the Princess of Wales and her children.
Staff Pick: NBC News wins Polk Award for ‘Dealing the Dead’ series
Last year, NBC News exposed how the bodies of poor and vulnerable people were dissected and leased out for medical research without their consent or their families’ knowledge. Now, that reporting has been honored with a prestigious George Polk Award.
NBC News’ investigative series, “Dealing the Dead,” addressed failures with the nationwide body trade. It focused on the University of North Texas Health Science Center, which halted its practice of using unclaimed bodies in response to the reporting.
To reveal the unethical treatment of human remains at the heart of the series, the reporters combed through thousands of pages of documents and data obtained through hard-fought public records requests, interviewed grieving family members from Ohio to Venezuela, and published a database in English and Spanish of hundreds of people whose bodies were sent to the University of North Texas.
When the reporters discovered that many families didn’t know what happened to their loved one’s body — or, in some cases, didn’t even know that their missing relative was dead — they undertook the challenging task of informing those families of what they had learned. This project ultimately brought long-awaited answers to at least a dozen families, and the reporters continue to hear of additional cases.
The Polk Award for National Television Reporting recognizes reporters Mike Hixenbaugh and Jon Schuppe and correspondent Liz Kreutz for four pieces on “NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt,” which lay out the investigation’s findings and feature Kreutz’s moving interviews with family members.
The award also names Susan Carroll, a senior editor, who uncovered the University of North Texas’ use of unclaimed bodies in 2023 and died last year.
See the full “Dealing the Dead” series here.
— Julie Shapiro, managing editor, enterprise
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Thanks for reading the Morning Rundown. Today’s newsletter was curated for you by Elizabeth Both.
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This article was published by NBC News on 2025-02-18 07:15:00
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