MADISON, Wis. – Social Security Administration Acting Commissioner Carolyn Colvin has announced she is stepping down.

You’ll excuse whistleblower employees of the scandal-plagued federal agency for not shedding any tears at Colvin’s departure.

“I’m ecstatic about it,” said one employee in the SSA’s Office of Disability Adjudication and Review, or ODAR, division. The employee, a whistleblower, asked not to be identified for fear of reprisal.

In a “Farewell Message” email last week to Social Security Administration staff members, Colvin wrote that she has advised President Barack Obama that she will be leaving her position as acting commissioner at the end of the president’s term on Friday.

“I have devoted my life to public service, serving in positions at all levels of government, but serving here with all of you has been the greatest honor of my life,” Colvin wrote. “The times I have treasured the most are the times I have been able to visit your offices to speak with you about the important work we do, and about your dreams and aspirations. Those are some of my most joyous and inspirational times at SSA. You are truly the greatest public servants in government.”

In June 2014, Obama nominated Colvin to lead the agency, which boasts some 65,000 employees and is projected this year to pay out $1 trillion in federal benefits to 68.4 million recipients.

Senate Republicans blocked the appointment amid a “cloud hanging over” Colvin’s nomination. She had assumed the acting commissioner post in February 2013.

The Social Security Administration has been hammered by one negative report after another. A $300 million computer project failed. Designed to help hasten the process of disability claims, an audit found the program could handle just 700 of the millions of claims. Colvin’s defenders say the computer program was initiated under former SSA Commissioner Michael J. Astrue, Colvin’s predecessor. Republicans, however, questioned whether SSA top administrators misled or withheld information from Congress about the scope of the problem.

The Government Accountability Office in 2013 estimated some 36,000 people picked up a combined $1.3 billion in erroneous payments over two years.

Colvin’s tenure has included many of the same problems that have afflicted the agency for some time, most notably the massive backlog of Social Security disability benefit claims.

As Wisconsin Watchdog reported in May, whistleblower Ron Klym, a long-time case worker at the Milwaukee Office of Disability Adjudication and Review alleged grave due process violations in the system. Klym, who was fired in August, claims ODAR facilities operated “shell games” to make their processing numbers better than they were. He accused management of discrimination, harassment, retaliation and other incidents of misconduct.

Whistleblowers allege a “culture of corruption” at the Madison ODAR facility. An administrative law judge recently retired under a cloud of sexual harassment allegations. The hearing office director and another manager were removed from the office. Whistleblowers accuse management of bribery, nepotism, fraud, and retaliation, among other charges.

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Sources say the SSA’s Office of Inspector General, which has been investigating the allegations for months, is preparing criminal and administrative reports on the probes.

Whistleblowers have reported misconduct allegations in SSA offices from West Virginia to California.

“I think she’s getting out while she can,” one whistleblower said of Colvin’s departure under a cloud of scandal.

In her farewell letter, Colvin told Social Security Administration employees they can be proud of numerous accomplishments “which represent our shared legacy.”

“Remember, each day, thousands and thousands of individuals may experience, for even a moment, hope, and if we are lucky, a better life, because of something you have been able to do for them,” the outgoing acting commissioner wrote.