They used to say that Social Security was the “third rail of politics.” President George W. Bush used that term himself, back when he embarked on an ill-fated Social Security privatization scheme in 2005, early in his second term.
In the two decades since, it’s been pretty close to the bipartisan consensus that messing with Social Security is political suicide, to the point where neither party seems especially eager to address that the main Social Security trust fund is scheduled to lose the ability to pay out full funds in less than a decade.
Even Donald Trump has expressed similar sentiments, with a White House “Fact Check,” a week ago, stating that “President Trump Will Always Protect Social Security, Medicare.”
However, in the age of DOGE, there are reasons to believe that certain aspects of Social Security and access to it could be imperiled.
“Waste and Fraud” Meets Social Security
As part of DOGE’s rampage through the federal government, Elon Musk has been claiming that there is a widespread problem of fraud within Social Security, and specifically that massive amounts of money are going out the door every year to people who are dead.
On March 16, the Social Security Administration put out a statement titled “Social Security Provides Update about its Death Record.”
Rather than any massive unchecked fraud, the SSA said, of the millions of death records it receives every year, “less than one-third of 1 percent are erroneously reported deaths that need to be corrected.”
Also, it’s not like Social Security fraud is a crime that’s traditionally been allowed to take place. In fact, people are criminally charged all the time, with improperly stealing the Social Security benefits of deceased parents or other relatives, often by not informing the government of the person’s death.
In one particularly grisly case in Philadelphia last year, a woman was indicted for committing Social Security fraud, after the remains of the rightful recipient were found “buried beneath approximately six to eight feet of concrete,” in the basement of her residence.
The Phone Support Question
Meanwhile, Axios reported this week on the existence of a memo from SSA proposing to change its phone service, which is the way that many Social Security recipients obtain customer support for questions about their benefits. The newsletter Popular Information had reported on a slightly later version of the memo, which was ultimately passed on to the acting commissioner of the agency.
A separate report from the Washington Post characterized SSA as having scrapped “far-reaching cuts to phone service,” following their reporting on the plans.
The memo contains a proposal that would limit what Social Security recipients can do by phone, including requiring those who are unable to do online identity verification to visit offices, rather than calling. This is being couched as an anti-fraud measure.
One former Social Security official told Axios that making that change would “cripple field office operations, and they’re already badly paralyzed.” Another former official told the outlet that implementing such changes would likely cost more than doing so would save in terms of identity fraud.
One version of the memo acknowledges that such changes would face potential legal challenges, and also that “the consequence of reduced service channels could be significant.”
A New Memo
Lee Dudek, who is the SSA’s acting director, issued a new memo on Tuesday, during which he acknowledged that he had “made some mistakes,” but that he vowed to learn from them.
Dudek, who previously led the agency’s anti-fraud division, also wrote in the memo that 2,700 Social Security employees had signed up for the federal government’s voluntary separation program, and 2,000 of them had been deemed eligible.
Michelle King, who at the time was the top official at SSA, stepped down from her role in February after she refused to allow DOGE access to sensitive materials.
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.
