A federal judge has rejected a request from 14 states seeking to block Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) from accessing sensitive data at the Social Security Administration, dealing a significant blow to those opposing the Trump administration’s government reform efforts.
Court Rules in Favor of Doge Investigation
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan denied the temporary restraining order request on Tuesday, finding that the states failed to demonstrate they would suffer “imminent irreparable harm” from Doge’s activities. While allowing the investigation to proceed, Judge Chutkan did express concerns about what she described as “the unchecked authority of an unelected individual and an entity that was not created by Congress and over which it has no oversight.”
The ruling comes amid growing tensions between the Trump administration and Democratic lawmakers over Doge’s expanding influence in examining federal agencies.
Social Security Administration Leadership in Flux
The court decision follows the abrupt resignation of Acting Social Security Commissioner Michelle King over the weekend after she refused Doge’s request to access sensitive beneficiary data. King, who had worked at the agency for more than 30 years, stepped down rather than comply with the data access demands.
In her place, the White House has appointed Leland Dudek, previously a manager in the Social Security Administration’s anti-fraud office, to serve as acting commissioner. Dudek will lead the agency until Frank Bisignano, President Trump’s nominee for permanent commissioner, is confirmed by the Senate.
In his first statement as acting commissioner, Dudek emphasized transparency: “I will lead this agency in an open and transparent manner. My first call as acting commissioner was to our Inspector General office to provide them an opportunity to oversee and review any and all agency activity, including my actions past, present, and future.”
Musk Claims Massive Fraud in Social Security Records
Musk has made explosive claims about the Social Security Administration, posting data on his social media platform X that suggests millions of accounts in the SSA database are for individuals who would be well over 100 years old—with some supposedly between 110-159 years of age.
According to Musk’s published data, the Social Security Administration’s records include:
- 6 million accounts for people in their 90s
- 4.7 million accounts for people aged 100-119
- 3.6 million accounts for people aged 110-119
- 3.4 million accounts for people aged 120-129
- 3.9 million accounts for people aged 130-139
- 3.5 million accounts for people aged 140-149
- 1.3 million accounts for people aged 150-159
Even more startling, Musk claims the SSA has approximately 395 million active accounts, despite the U.S. population being only about 335 million.
Experts Dispute Fraud Claims
Despite the alarming numbers, experts familiar with the Social Security Administration’s systems suggest the discrepancies are more likely due to antiquated technology than actual fraud.
The SSA’s benefit system was reportedly built using COBOL, a 60-year-old programming language that handles dates differently than modern systems. When dates are missing in the system, they default to May 1875, which would make those entries appear to be approximately 150 years old in today’s records.
A 2013 Inspector General report acknowledged this issue, noting that 98% of people listed as 100 or older in the SSA database were not receiving benefits. The report indicated that updating the database was deemed too costly at the time.
Alicia Munnell, Director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, points out that if Musk’s numbers were accurate, it would mean roughly 40% of all Social Security beneficiaries were over 100 years old, which she says “makes no sense.”
Warnings About Benefit Interruptions
Former SSA Commissioner Martin O’Malley, who served under the Biden administration, has warned that the current upheaval could lead to interruptions in benefit payments: “At this rate, they (Doge) will break it and they will break it fast, and there will be an interruption of benefits.”
The SSA is responsible for distributing monthly payments to approximately 73 million Americans, making any potential disruption a significant concern for beneficiaries.
Nancy Altman, president of Social Security Works, a nonprofit focused on protecting Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, expressed concerns about data security: “They (Doge) now have access to everything, which means if you applied for disability benefits, they have thousands of pages of medical records, they have earning statements all the way back, they have access to when you got married or got divorced.”
What This Means for Beneficiaries
Despite the concerns, financial experts are cautioning against panic. Mel Casey, a senior portfolio manager at FBB Capital Partners, notes: “There are mistakes, there are errors, there are inefficiencies in these systems that need to be cleaned up, but there isn’t any evidence that people born in the 1920s are receiving benefit checks.”
Casey advises beneficiaries to stay the course with their Social Security claiming strategies, suggesting that any changes would likely affect future beneficiaries rather than current ones. “Seniors vote more reliably than younger folks, and it would be politically unpopular to try to take away something that is a core part of retirement. It would be politically self-defeating,” Casey added.
Trump Administration Proposes Tax Cuts on Benefits
While the investigation continues, the Trump administration has proposed eliminating taxes on Social Security benefits for seniors. Currently, about 40% of beneficiaries pay federal income tax on their benefits.
President Trump has repeatedly promised not to cut Social Security benefits and has suggested that eliminating what some call “double taxation” could effectively increase payments to millions of recipients.
