WASHINGTON (TNND) — The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) on Monday announced its audit of the Social Security Administration (SSA) had removed 7 million accounts belonging to individuals listed over 120 years old.
DOGE’s findings came amid a three-week-long “cleanup” of SSA’s internal records. DOGE head Elon Musk mocked the findings via X writing “being out your dead! [sic]” in reference to Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, joined in on the joke, writing “I’m not dead yet!”
Maryland Del. Kathy Szeliga, R- District 7, took aim at Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., for opposing Musk’s efforts.
“Yes @RepRaskin, @DOGE is CUTTING dead people from the rolls of social security,” she wrote. “But you’re against that.”
SSA’s inspector general in 2015 issued a report saying its internal database automatically assigns incomplete data to a reference point over 150 years ago, which likely led to the number of seemingly fraudulent accounts. Though the agency automatically halts benefits to accounts older than 115, it decided against a roughly $9 million database update to correct this.
A district judge this month blocked DOGE from accessing portions of SSA’s records. Musk has openly referred to the agency as running a “ponzi scheme” and accused it of widespread internal fraud.
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