How could this have happened?
In a major effort to clean up government inefficiency, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has reported that over 12 million individuals aged 120 and older were still listed in the Social Security database. This staggering revelation, made public early Tuesday, has raised serious concerns about outdated records and potential wasteful spending.
According to an update on DOGE’s website, approximately 3.2 million of these records have now been officially marked as deceased as part of a large-scale data correction initiative.
“For the last 14 days, Social Security has been going through a massive cleanup of their own records,” the announcement explained. “Around 3 million Americans, all over the age of 120, are now marked as deceased. More work is still needed.”
Social Security’s Bloated Database
Prior to the cleanup, DOGE data showed astonishing numbers of individuals listed as alive despite their extreme ages:
- 3,467,066 people aged 120-129
- 3,929,750 people aged 130-139
- 3,548,746 people aged 140-149
- 1,357,967 people aged 150-159
By Monday, over 3.2 million of these outdated records had been corrected, marking a significant step toward efficiency in government databases.
Cracking Down on Wasteful Spending
DOGE, led by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, has been tasked with reducing government waste and streamlining bureaucracy. The effort aligns with President Donald Trump’s commitment to cutting “fraud, waste, and abuse” in federal entitlement programs while protecting essential benefits for hardworking Americans.
Musk has not minced words when discussing Social Security, calling it “the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time.” In a recent interview, he pointed out that a significant portion of federal spending is consumed by entitlement programs, including Social Security.
“That is the big thing to eliminate,” Musk stated. “We are speaking about billions, if not trillions, of dollars.”
Despite these concerns, Trump campaign adviser Chris LaCivita reassured Americans that no drastic cuts to Social Security or Medicaid are on the table.
“Now, they won’t cut Social Security. They aren’t going to cut Medicaid; they are simply not. That is fearmongering pushed by the Democrats,” LaCivita told Politico.
The Truth About Social Security Records
While some reports have suggested that millions of centenarians might still be collecting Social Security benefits, the Social Security Administration (SSA) has clarified that many of these individuals are not actually receiving payments—they simply do not have a recorded date of death in the system.
According to SSA data, 67 million Americans receive Social Security benefits, but only around 53,000 are centenarians.
The Fight Against Government Waste
As of March 11, DOGE reports that it has saved taxpayers over $115 billion through a combination of:
- Eliminating fraudulent and improper payments
- Renegotiating costly government contracts
- Reducing workforce inefficiencies
- Canceling unnecessary grants and leases
With government waste at an all-time high, efforts like this are crucial to ensuring Social Security remains strong for future generations while cutting fraudulent claims and excessive spending.
What do you think about these reforms? Should more be done to protect taxpayer dollars?
it’s good the doge is finding all this fraud but who is going to prison for it’ if i try to fraud the IRS i would be behind bars it’s time some of these people go behind bars
with all the people shown to be receiving SS, that are all have passed, where did the money go????? SSA said we are broke and will not be able to continue unless we get more people donating. where did the money go?