Trump-Musk DOGE deletes ‘3.2 million ghosts’ from Social Security records

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), co-founded by billionaire Tesla CEO Elon Musk, has reportedly deleted over 3.2 million outdated records from the US Social Security Administration (SSA). The agency contained millions of individuals marked as alive despite being over 120 years old, with some listed at more than 200.

“For the past two weeks, Social Security has been conducting a major cleanup of its records. Approximately 3.2 million number holders, all listed as age 120+, have now been marked as deceased. More work remains to be done,” DOGE announced on X.

Musk reposted a March 20 post that talked about the department’s move, stating, “Cleaning up the fraud file.”

DOGE continues cutting government expenditure

According to government records cited by DOGE as of March 8, the Social Security database listed 1,357,967 people between the ages of 150 and 159 as alive. By March 17, the number had dropped by 186,415 to 1,171,552. In total, 3,261,057 individuals were reclassified as deceased.

Cleaning up the fraud file https://t.co/e6PA7kmH9u

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 20, 2025

The existence of these records does not necessarily mean benefits were still being paid to the deceased, but the Trump administration is convinced that it could lead to inefficiencies in the system.

DOGE, which has added several special government employees and staffers to assist with the Social Security review, is focused on uncovering financial mismanagement across federal agencies. 

The government initiative backed by US President Donald Trump has already led to billions in cuts to government contracts, the elimination of thousands of federal jobs, and even the dismantling of entire agencies, such as the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Musk claims the Social Security program is fraudulent, others say no

Musk, who has been outspoken about government inefficiency, called Social Security a “Ponzi scheme” and suggested that entitlement fraud could cost taxpayers as much as $700 billion annually. 

Still, an inspector general report from 2015 to 2022 estimated that improper payments accounted for $72 billion, less than 1% of total benefits, with $23 billion left unrecovered.

Speaking on Texas Sen. Ted Cruz’s podcast earlier this week, the Tesla CEO asserted that most financial mismanagement stems from waste rather than deliberate fraud.

“In my opinion, it’s like 80 percent waste, 20 percent fraud,” Musk said. “But you do have these sorts of gray areas.”

He pointed to instances where payments continued flowing to companies due to bureaucratic oversight. “Now, is that waste or fraud?” Musk asked, to which Cruz replied, “Both.”

Yet, the DOGE co-founder is being blasted on social media for “spreading misinformation” about the records of old people in the program.

“Once again – NOT fraud. These are recordkeeping issues that were previously identified by the IG in 2023. No one over the age of 120 was being paid SS benefits. Cleaning up records is good, but WHY do you have to lie about fraud?” a retired attorney inquired on X.

Federal judge blocks DOGE’s access to Social Security records

As reported by Cryptopolitan, on Thursday, US District Judge Ellen L. Hollander issued a temporary restraining order blocking Musk’s team from further accessing Social Security records.

BREAKING: A federal judge in Maryland has just barred DOGE from accessing Social Security systems, saying the group is on a "fishing expedition" that jeopardizes people's personal data.https://t.co/eiSctrpB3n pic.twitter.com/qX9j26yPSo

— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) March 20, 2025

The federal judge issued the ruling from the District of Maryland, preventing DOGE from continuing to review sensitive SSA data or retaining any information already gathered. 

The plaintiffs, who included the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, were concerned that the effort may violate privacy protections for millions of Social Security recipients.

Judge Hollander, in a 137-page opinion, wrote that retirees had a “reasonable expectation” that their personal information would remain protected when submitting financial and banking details to the SSA.

“The unrestricted access to PII that SSA provided to the DOGE Team, without specified need, and/or without adequate training, detail agreements, and/or background investigations of all DOGE Team members, would be highly offensive to an objectively reasonable person,” Hollander stated.

She also pointed out that personally identifiable information, such as Social Security numbers and financial records, is considered private and sensitive. The restraining order will remain in effect for two weeks.

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