Published February 21, 2025 11:18am EST
Acting Social Security chief opens up on DOGE, claims of dead people receiving benefits
Elon Musk said DOGE's review found large numbers of people over the age of 100 in Social Security's system
By Eric Revell FOXBusiness
The acting head of the Social Security Administration opened up on the activities of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) at the agency, as well as claims about millions of dead people receiving benefits.
Acting Commissioner Lee Dudek said that DOGE "is a critical part of President Trump's commitment to finding fraud, waste, and abuse, and better ways for the government to function to support its people."
"I want to be very clear about the DOGE personnel who are now working at Social Security," Dudek said. "DOGE personnel CANNOT make changes to agency systems, benefit payments, or other information. They only have READ access. DOGE personnel do not have access to data related to a court ordered temporary restraining order, current or future. DOGE personnel must follow the law and if they violate the law they will be referred to the Department of Justice for possible prosecution."
Dudek's statement also discussed reports about Social Security beneficiaries over the age of 100 receiving benefits, which followed comments Musk made in the Oval Office with President Trump last week.
"I also want to acknowledge recent reporting about the number of people older than age 100 who may be receiving benefits from Social Security," Dudek said. "The reported data are people in our records with a Social Security number who do not have a date of death associated with their record. These individuals are not necessarily receiving benefits."
Musk said that the Social Security system has "people in there that are about 150 years old" and that "there are a whole bunch of Social Security payments where there's no identifying information, like, why is there no identifying information?"
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https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/acting-social-security-chief-opens-up-doge-claims-dead-people-receiving-benefits
