The acting caput of the Social Security Administration opened up connected the activities of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) astatine the agency, arsenic good arsenic claims astir millions of dormant radical receiving benefits.
Acting Commissioner Lee Dudek said that DOGE "is a captious portion of President Trump's committedness to uncovering fraud, waste, and abuse, and amended ways for the authorities to relation to enactment its people."
"I privation to beryllium precise wide astir the DOGE unit who are present moving astatine Social Security," Dudek said. "DOGE unit CANNOT marque changes to bureau systems, payment payments, oregon different information. They lone person READ access. DOGE unit bash not person entree to information related to a tribunal ordered impermanent restraining order, existent oregon future. DOGE unit indispensable travel the instrumentality and if they interruption the instrumentality they volition beryllium referred to the Department of Justice for imaginable prosecution."
Dudek's connection besides discussed reports astir Social Security beneficiaries implicit the property of 100 receiving benefits, which followed comments Musk made successful the Oval Office with President Trump past week.
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"I besides privation to admit caller reporting astir the fig of radical older than property 100 who whitethorn beryllium receiving benefits from Social Security," Dudek said. "The reported information are radical successful our records with a Social Security fig who bash not person a day of decease associated with their record. These individuals are not needfully receiving benefits."
Musk said that the Social Security strategy has "people successful determination that are astir 150 years old" and that "there are a full clump of Social Security payments wherever there's nary identifying information, like, wherefore is determination nary identifying information?"
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Later, successful a post connected X, Musk posted a representation of a spreadsheet helium said was from the Social Security database showing the numbers of radical successful each property bucket with the decease tract acceptable to false. It showed much than 17 cardinal specified records for radical implicit the property of 100.
In 2015, the Social Security Administration (SSA) and its inspector wide looked into the fig of radical successful the strategy with nary decease grounds who were listed arsenic being implicit the property of 112. SSA recovered 6.5 cardinal numberholders aged 112 oregon older with nary decease accusation successful the system, but noted that different records suggested the bulk of them were deceased.
Of those, SSA issued payments to 266 numberholders — though the IG's reappraisal indicated lone 13 beneficiaries were apt property 112 oregon older, portion successful the remaining 253 cases determination were discrepancies successful SSA's records that indicated the beneficiary wasn't really that old.
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Following the review, the SSA decided not to proceed with adding presumed decease accusation to the records due to the fact that it would beryllium costly to implement, supply small payment to the bureau and duplicate different accusation already disposable in government data exchanges.
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