Social Security is in the news – but not because Donald Trump wants to cut it.
Trump has been adamant, at least since he began running again in the 2024 campaign, that he’s not interested in cutting the program.
“Social Security will not be touched, it will only be strengthened,” Trump said in a February 7 press conference, specifically denying that DOGE would cut Social Security benefits. He did promise, however, that DOGE would “weed out” undocumented immigrants who are collecting from Social Security.
What DOGE is Doing at Social Security
In recent days, Elon Musk has been posting to X about “fraud” in the system, including a supposed incidence of 150-year-olds collecting Social Security.
But as reported by Wired, this is merely a misunderstanding of a government chart. In fact, it is “very likely just a quirk of the decades-old coding language that underpins the government payment systems.”
Because Social Security uses an ancient coding language called COBOL, the database sometimes lists a default date in 1875, which is 150 years ago. Furthermore, in 2015, Social Security caught that same error and automatically stopped payments for anyone with a listed age of 115 or older.
But neither the debunking of the “150-year-olds” point nor Trump’s promises have kept DOGE from getting involved with Social Security.
Another claim is that undocumented documentaries are improperly collecting Social Security. However, a report last year by the Badger Project found that such immigrants often pay into the system, as opposed to draining from it.
Acting Chief is Out
The latest development is that on Sunday, the acting top official at the Social Security Administration, Michelle King, announced her resignation. Per NBC News and other outlets, King resigned after refusing a request by DOGE to “access sensitive government records.”
Leland Dudek, who is head of Social Security’s anti-fraud office, has been named to replace King on an acting basis, while Trump’s pick to lead the agency, Frank Bisignano, awaits confirmation.
Nancy Altman, president of Social Security Works, told NBC that she believes the dispute was related to DOGE’s request for access to “bank information, Social Security numbers, earnings records, marital statuses, dates of birth and, in some cases, medical records.”
Why Not Cut It Social Security?
Why Trump’s resistance to any cuts?
On the one hand, the program is a massive federal government expenditure, and it comprises a large percentage of the government’s payments that are due in the future. As of now, Social Security will run out of the ability to pay full benefits to its recipients in less than ten years.
That said, Social Security is a very popular program, and the people who receive it tend to like it. Politicians who have floated Social Security reform in the past have lived to regret it.
George W. Bush, early in his second term, made a doomed push to partially privatize Social Security, while Democrats campaigned heavily on protecting the program in the 2022 midterm elections, when some Republican senators had made noises about future cuts.
Former President of the United States Donald Trump speaking with attendees at the 2022 Student Action Summit at the Tampa Convention Center in Tampa, Florida. By Gage Skidmore.
In that campaign, the Democrats gained a Senate seat while minimizing their losses in the House.
The numbers at play in the budgets DOGE is seeking to cut are a mere pittance compared to Social Security. But making any cuts to that program has been a proven political loser for a long time.
About the Author: Stephen Silver
Stephen Silver is an award-winning journalist, essayist and film critic, and contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. For over a decade, Stephen has authored thousands of articles that focus on politics, technology, and the economy. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter.
