It’s funny, because when Donald Trump was re-elected, we didn’t hear a hew and cry from the voters to prioritize “waste and fraud” at the Social Security Administration (SSA). In fact, we remember Trump promising voters multiple times “not to touch Social Security.” The opposite has happened. He and Musk and DOGE ‘touched it’ in ways that affect everyone who relies on the SSA.
The latest cause for alarm is news from the SSA that it has “fixed” millions of people’s Social Security records and is working on even more. It’s an odd priority for an agency that gutted its own staff when Trump came into office and undermined customer service, as part of a phony hunt for ‘waste and fraud.’ In other words, SSA has scrambled its remaining employees to try to plug holes created by massive firings and buyouts, but somehow finds the resources to scrub Social Security records.
SSA, under Commissioner Frank Bisignano, says that it is updating people’s death and citizenship statuses. President Trump made bogus claims in 2025 that 360 year-olds were somehow collecting Social Security after DOGE bros raided and misconstrued agency data. As for the citizenship part, we already know that Trump is obsessed with harassing immigrants, legal and otherwise.
In his 2025 address to Congress, Trump claimed 360 year-olds were receiving Social Security
In order to “fix” Social Security’s citizenship records, the agency is using The Department of Homeland Security’s controversial SAVE database. As part of its campaign against immigrants and concomitant voter suppression efforts, the Trump administration has tried to compel states to compare their voter rolls with SAVE data.
Everyone from voting rights groups to civil rights organizations have warned that the SAVE database is incomplete and prone to errors. “The SAVE database is notorious for having inaccurate data,” says our president and CEO, Max Richtman. “Now, some of the SAVE inaccuracies will be transferred into SSA’s files, doubling down on the use of inaccurate data and making it even more difficult to find an uncorrupted file to check data against.”
The SAVE system has mistakenly flagged eligible U.S. citizens—including naturalized citizens whose records have not been fully updated across every federal agency. Those same people could now be denied their rightful Social Security benefits.
“Everyone wants accuracy, but this administration has a track record of carelessness with people’s personal data and seems less concerned about accuracy,” NCPSSM senior Social Security analyst, Maria Freese.
Since Trump took office again, there have been numerous reports of the administration misusing Social Security data, including: a stated intent to transfer living people to the agency’s Death Master file; uploading Americans’ private data onto an unsecure cloud server; and DOGE staffers offering Social Security data to a right-wing political operative, among other abuses. Democrats in Congress have demanded accountability from the administration, but none has been forthcoming.
Long lines at Social Security field offices after Trump/DOGE cutbacks in 2025
Meanwhile, seniors who have seen their local field offices practically shut down or haven’t been able to reach a human being on the agency’s 1-800 phone lines (because of drastic cutbacks) have every right to ask how SSA can afford to focus on ‘fixing’ records right now.
“Where did they find the staff hours to do this?” Freese wonders. “They either pulled people off of other duties, leaving customers hung out to dry, or they’re using AI, which we know is far from foolproof.” If we sound skeptical, it’s because Trump, Bisignano, and DOGE have not earned the trust of Social Security advocates or the millions of people who expect SSA to focus on administering their earned benefits instead of the President’s craven political agenda.
