Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) announced that it has started a large-scale cleanup of records at the Social Security Agency (SSA).
“For the past two weeks, @SocialSecurity has begun a major cleanup of their records. Approximately 3.2 million number holders, all listed as age 120+, have now been marked as deceased. More work still to be done,” DOGE posted on X early Tuesday.
Why It Matters?
Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who is overseeing President Donald Trump’s efforts to reduce federal spending, said in February that millions of people over 100 years old might still be collecting Social Security benefits.
The SSA responded by saying that the figures were misinterpreted. Many of the individuals identified are not receiving benefits but lack a recorded date of death.
SSA data shows that of the 67 million people currently receiving Social Security benefits, about 53,000—approximately 0.1%—are centenarians.
What to Know?
According to DOGE, over 3.2 million Social Security records for individuals aged 120 and older have been corrected in the past two weeks.
However, around 9.5 million Social Security numbers tied to people over 120 years old remain active.
DOGE shared a chart showing the cleanup progress by age groups.
Musk first highlighted this issue in February, sharing a spreadsheet of SSA data showing a large number of records for people aged over 100 without a listed death date.
“Maybe Twilight is real and there are a lot of vampires collecting Social Security,” Musk joked.
The data comes from the SSA’s Numident system, which has tracked all Social Security numbers since 1936. In a 2015 review, the SSA found that around 6.5 million records for people over 112 years old had not been marked as deceased.
On March 5, the SSA clarified: “The data reported in the media reflect people who do not have a date of death associated with their record. While these people may not be receiving benefits, maintaining accurate records remains important.”
The SSA has a policy of stopping benefit payments for anyone listed as 115 years or older.
A July 2024 report from the SSA’s inspector general showed that between fiscal years 2015 and 2022, the agency paid out nearly $8.6 trillion in benefits.
About $71.8 billion—less than 1%—was classified as improper payments, mostly consisting of overpayments to living recipients, which are generally recoverable.
What People Are Saying?
Musk posted on X on February 24: “We are increasingly optimistic that, as the immense waste & fraud are eliminated from Social Security & Medical, there is potential to increase actual dollars received by citizens & improve healthcare!”
Alex Beene, a financial literacy instructor at the University of Tennessee at Martin, told Newsweek: “Social Security fraud exists, but the presence of records for individuals over 100 years old isn’t proof of widespread fraud.
The real takeaway is that many government databases are outdated, which often leads to these kinds of errors.”
What’s Next
DOGE said the cleanup of SSA records is ongoing, with more Social Security numbers expected to be marked as deceased in the coming weeks and months.
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