DOGE is searching through Social Security payments looking for fraud

[Eugene]

Source: ABC News

DOGE is searching through Social Security payments looking for fraud

Advocates worry mistakes could affect vulnerable older Americans.

By Anne Flaherty and Will Steakin
March 7, 2025, 7:06 PM

The Department of Government Efficiency is sifting through $1.6 trillion worth of Social Security payments -- records that include a person's name, birth date and how much they earn -- in an anti-fraud effort that has advocates worried the Trump administration could start denying payments to vulnerable older Americans.

Details on the effort were confirmed in a recent letter to Congress by acting Social Security Administrator Lee Dudek and by several sources familiar with the project.

In addition to combing through sensitive data, DOGE staffers also have been inquiring about the Social Security Administration's telephone service, sources told ABC News, which a significant portion of beneficiaries use to file initial claims. DOGE's inquiries about the telephone service have raised concerns that it may be planning either to replace the telephone service with private call centers or eliminate it as an option for filing claims, sources said.

"Any American receiving Social Security benefits will continue to receive them. The sole mission of DOGE is to identify waste, fraud, and abuse only," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement provided to ABC News on Friday.

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Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/doge-searching-social-security-payments-fraud/story?id=119564143