In early 2025, an 82-year-old man named Ned Johnson from Seattle was mistakenly declared “dead” by the U.S. Social Security Administration, causing him to lose his benefits.
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In March 2025, shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump established the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and appointed Elon Musk as its head, rumors began circulating that an 82-year-old man had lost his Social Security benefits after DOGE mistakenly marked him as deceased.
A post on X claimed that DOGE had “stolen” the man’s Social Security payments and canceled his Medicare health insurance.
As of this writing, the post had gained nearly one million views and 33,000 likes. The claim also appeared multiple times on X and Reddit.
Additionally, The Express Tribune, an English-language newspaper in Pakistan, and Common Dreams, a left-leaning U.S. news outlet, both published articles about the incident. Several Snopes readers also contacted the site to verify the story.
Snopes confirmed the details with the Johnsons through a phone call. Based on this, Snopes rated the claim as true, though no evidence directly linked DOGE to the mistake.
The story originated from a March 15, 2025, article in The Seattle Times by Danny Westneat. Westneat identified Leonard “Ned” Johnson as the man affected by the error, which occurred as DOGE increased its involvement with the Social Security Administration (SSA). However, there’s no definitive evidence that DOGE caused the error.
According to Westneat, Johnson’s wife, Pam, received a condolence letter from their bank, explaining that $5,201 — representing Johnson’s December 2024 and January 2025 Social Security payments — had been returned to the SSA because Johnson had been reported dead in November 2024.
Despite being alive, Johnson’s February and March 2025 Social Security deposits were withheld, his Medicare insurance was canceled, and his credit reports were closed.
When Johnson contacted the bank, he was told to speak with Social Security. After two weeks of failed attempts to reach the SSA by phone, Johnson visited his local Social Security office, which he described as overcrowded and understaffed. A staff member eventually corrected his status, restoring his benefits.
Pam Johnson confirmed the details during a phone call with Snopes on March 17, 2025. She said her husband visited the Social Security office on March 13, and Westneat interviewed them the following day.
The couple never received a clear explanation for the error, with the bank and Social Security blaming each other.
Pam also confirmed that their February payment had been restored, though they were still waiting for the March payment.
Johnson’s Medicare coverage had also been reinstated. Johnson was scheduled to discuss his experience in an interview with CNN later that day.
“For us, this isn’t life or death, but the consequences can be severe,” Pam Johnson said. “We think Ned is the canary in a coal mine — this is part of a much bigger issue.”
Sources:
- Common Dreams, “As Trump-Musk Target Social Security, Seniors Share Stories of Benefit Cutoffs” – March 17, 2025
- The Express Tribune, “US Social Security Error Costs 82-Year-Old His Benefits and $5,000” – March 17, 2025
- The Seattle Times, “I Found a ‘Dead’ Person on Social Security in Seattle” – March 15, 2025
Updates:
March 18, 2025: An earlier version incorrectly suggested that Seattle Times reporter Danny Westneat blamed DOGE for the error. This has been corrected.
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