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By Aliss Higham
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Elon Musk has hit back at criticisms of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) accessing Social Security Administration (SSA) data.
Why It Matters
Musk, selected by President Donald Trump to head the nonofficial DOGE, has been tasked with finding ways to streamline government processes and cut spending. But the approach to the task, and DOGE's access to government payment systems and personal information, have been met with backlash from some lawmakers and government officials, including the resignation of the acting Social Security commissioner Michelle King at the weekend.
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What To Know
Writing on X, formerly Twitter, Musk sought to quell those who have taken issue with his criticisms of Social Security payments, which he has alleged are being paid to some recipients that are listed as being hundreds of years old.
"Having tens of millions of people marked in Social Security as "ALIVE" when they are definitely dead is a HUGE problem," he wrote in his latest foray into the topic on February 17. "Obviously. Some of these people would have been alive before America existed as a country. Think about that for a second."
He was responding to a post from Democratic congressmen John Fetterman, who criticized DOGE's access to government data.
Musk first made the claims that benefits are being claimed by people who appear to have died long ago while speaking from the Oval Office with President Trump last week. He said that DOGE has performed a "cursory examination of Social Security, and we got people in there that are 150 years old."
Musk's latest comment follows other posts. Earlier on Monday he presented a spreadsheet of data showing "the numbers of people in each age bucket with the death field set to FALSE!"
It includes 46 million between the ages of 60 and 69, the period during which a person becomes eligible to collect retirement benefits. It also includes more than 10 million listed as being above the age of 100, including one who is recorded as being between 360 and 369 years of age.
"Maybe Twilight is real and there are a lot of vampires collecting Social Security," Musk wrote.
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Newsweek has been unable to verify the data. The figures included add up to considerably more than the number of beneficiaries paid by the Social Security Administration (SSA) every month, which was around 73 million as of January this year. It is also higher than the total U.S. population, which was around 341 million at the time of the last census, in 2020. The U.S. has roughly 100,000 centenarians, according to the Pew Research Center, none of which exceed the age of 114 years old.
Musk's comments regarding dead people claiming Social Security follow other claims of "fraud" in government agencies that distribute benefits. Last week, Musk also reported, again on X, that he is "100 percent certain that the magnitude of the fraud in federal entitlements (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Welfare, Disability, etc) exceeds the combined sum of every private scam you've ever heard by FAR."
Musk's recent moves on the SSA have been met with considerable criticism, particularly from Democratic lawmakers and Social Security advocacy groups. Several members of Congress, along with SSA beneficiaries and others staged a rally outside the SSA offices in Washington, D.C, during which Maryland Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen accused DOGE of "conducting illegal raids on federal agencies."
What People Are Saying
Elon Musk said on X on February 17: "I love the people. We just want to fix the waste and fraud that is bankrupting the country. The scrutiny on me is extreme, so it's not like I could 'get away' with something, nor do I have any incentive to do so."
Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman wrote on X, in reference to DOGE accessing personal data: "I [Elon Musk] want to save billions of your money and make our government more efficient. Rummaging through your personal s**t is *not* that. A party of chaos loses—always."
Nancy Altman, president of Social Security Works, an advocacy group for the preservation of Social Security benefits, said: "The information collected and securely held by the Social Security Administration is highly sensitive. SSA has data on everyone who has a Social Security number, which is virtually all Americans, everyone who has Medicare, and every low-income American who has applied for Social Security's means-tested companion program, Supplemental Security Income."
What's Next
Exactly what Musk and the DOGE staff plan to do with the SSA and its spending is unclear at this time. Newsweek has contacted DOGE via email for comment outside of regular working hours.
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