DOGE Gains Access to Social Security Administration Databases -- Musk Falsely Claims 20 Million Dead People Receiving Benefits

DOGE operatives obtained access to Social Security Administration databases containing records of every American with an SSN. Elon Musk posted on X claiming "20M+ dead people over 100" were receiving benefits -- a claim he called "the biggest fraud in history." Acting SSA Commissioner Lee Dudek (Trump-appointed) later clarified: "These individuals are not necessarily receiving benefits." The records reflected SSNs without a death date recorded in the system -- NOT active payment recipients. COBOL software defaults missing birthdates to dates 150+ years ago. SSA Inspector General data showed that from 2015-2022, improper payments were $71.8B (<1% of $8.6T paid), mostly overpayments to living people. In March, DOGE "marked as deceased" 9.9M SSN holders aged 120+, but SSA staff reported ~600 living people/month were erroneously added to the Death Master File -- their bank accounts locked, benefits stopped, and Medicare cut off.