Latest news with #DeathMasterFile
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Elon Musk Has Reportedly Cut Off a Bunch of People From Their Rightful Social Security
Elon Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency is cutting off Americans from the Social Security benefits they're supposed to be receiving by writing them off as dead — even though they're very much among the living, the Daily Beast reports. "We have people who did not receive benefits come in every day with their ID and say, 'I'm not dead, I'm alive!" Rennie Glasgow, a claims technical analyst and fifteen-year veteran of the Social Security Administration who works at the agency's office in Schenectady, New York, told the Beast. These clerical zombies are the collateral damage of DOGE's meddling with the SSA's "Death Master File," a comprehensive list of deceased individuals who should no longer receive benefits. Musk, who has called Social Security the "biggest ponzi scheme of all time" and has spread outrageous claims of mass benefits fraud, ordered millions of people who were "probably" dead to be moved to the list, the Washington Post reported, in order to make it more accurate. "[DOGE staffers] went into the system and they killed off people," Glasgow told the Beast. "About four million people, they marked them as dead. But they're not sure if those people were supposed to be marked as dead, so they're sending us an email saying, 'If these people come into the office with their identification, you can reinstate them.'" As with other federal agencies, DOGE has swept through the SSA like a tornado. Under its recommendations, the SSA will lay off 7,000 employees, reducing its workforce to 50,000. Dozens of its offices across the country have either already been closed or will be. Its website constantly crashes, while its phone helplines are being shut down. Glasgow's office is reeling from the brutal changes, losing eight employees in a location that now only has 30, with only four of its 18 service windows able to stay open. For two hours every day, its computer system goes dark. In what is one of its most flagrant intrusions into the SSA's operations, the Trump administration is also attempting to force over 6,000 immigrants to "self-deport" by placing them in the Death Master File. Once so interred, a person on this list is cut off from accessing bank accounts and credit cards in the US — a veritable financial death sentence. "When they mark someone dead on the Social Security record, it stops their life," Glasgow told the Beast. "It stops their car payments, it stops their credit, it stops their ability to do anything. Their identification gets flagged. And most times those things have to go to the payment center." Even now, Social Security remains overwhelmingly popular with Americans across virtually all demographics. But Glasgow suspects that Musk and DOGE are deliberately sabotaging the agency so that the public will one day turn on it. More on DOGE: Elon Musk's DOGE Has Been a Dismal Failure
Newsweek
25-04-2025
- Business
- Newsweek
Social Security Recipients Accidentally Deleted by DOGE: 'I'm Not Dead'
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Thousands of living Americans have been mistakenly declared dead at the Social Security Administration (SSA) under the leadership of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), according to a federal worker. Rennie Glasgow, a claims technical analyst at the SSA's Schenectady office in New York state, told The Daily Beast that DOGE staffers have mistakenly moved the records of living people to the SSA's Death Master File, which holds information about individuals who had Social Security numbers and whose deaths have been reported to the federal agency. "We have people who did not receive benefits come in every day with their ID and say, 'I'm not dead, I'm alive!" Rennie Glasgow, a claims technical analyst with 15 years of experience at the SSA's Schenectady office in New York. Newsweek has contacted both the SSA and DOGE for comment via email. Why It Matters Glasgow's comments come at a time when DOGE has been working on "a major cleanup" of Social Security records. The work began after Musk, who is spearheading President Donald Trump's vast federal spending cuts, claimed in February that millions of people — many who would be long dead — over the age of 100 could be collecting Social Security benefits. The SSA clarified that the figures had been misinterpreted and the millions of records Musk referenced include individuals who, while not receiving benefits, have records lacking a recorded date of death. White House Senior Advisor Elon Musk walks to the White House after landing in Marine One on the South Lawn with U.S. President Donald Trump (not pictured) on March 9, 2025 in Washington, DC. White House Senior Advisor Elon Musk walks to the White House after landing in Marine One on the South Lawn with U.S. President Donald Trump (not pictured) on March 9, 2025 in Washington, DC. Samuel Corum/GETTY What To Know "[DOGE staffers] went into the system and they killed off people," Glasgow told The Daily Beast. He said that DOGE had marked approximately 4 million people as deceased, but the non-official federal agency said it is unclear whether that was done correctly. "But they're [DOGE] not sure if those people were supposed to be marked as dead, so they're sending us an email saying, 'If these people come into the office with their identification, you can reinstate them.'" "We have to go through this long process to resurrect them, to get them back as alive, which can take about three to four days," Glasgow said, who said such incidents can have severe repercussions on benefit recipients, tens of millions of which are elderly and/or disabled. "It stops their car payments, it stops their credit, it stops their ability to do anything," he said. "Their identification gets flagged. And most times those things have to go to the payment center." The mistakes are having a knock-on effect. "What used to take 15 days to get done when we send something to a payment center is now taking about 30 to 45," Glasgow said. SSA Death Records And Musk Musk first brought attention to the SSA's records on deceased Social Security number holders in February. On X, formerly Twitter, he posted a spreadsheet of data showing "the numbers of people in each age bucket with the death field set to FALSE!" "Maybe Twilight is real and there are a lot of vampires collecting Social Security," Musk wrote. He later reiterated his claim in an appearance at the White House alongside President Donald Trump. Musk did not say where the information had come from, aside from that it was a "Social Security database". However, it appears to originate from the SSA's Numident system, which has maintained records of all Social Security numbers since they were first used in 1936. According to a report by nonpartisan think-tank Brookings, the absence of a death date "doesn't necessarily mean the person is still alive; it may simply mean the death was never reported," saying that the system was introduced as a time when "when record-keeping was paper-based and less reliable." "Computerized death records were not introduced until 1962, meaning information on deaths prior to that year is often incomplete or inaccurate," the report reads. The SSA has previously conceded it has not kept its filings up to speed, saying in a March 2015 review that death records had not been updated for 6.5 million individuals over the age of 112 who were presumed deceased. However, the SSA clarified that these Social Security numbers are not receiving benefits, noting that the agency automatically suspends payments to anyone listed as 115 years old or older. "The data referenced in the media pertain to individuals whose records lack a recorded date of death," the SSA said on March 5, referring to Musk's claim that dead people are collecting federal benefits. "While these individuals may not be receiving benefits, it is crucial for the agency to uphold accurate and complete records." What Happens Next DOGE confirmed on April 24 that it continues to update the records, writing on X: "For the past 7 weeks, @SocialSecurity has been executing a major cleanup of their records. Approximately 11 million numberholders, all listed age 120+, have now been marked deceased."Another ~2 million to go." Have you been declared dead by the SSA? Or do you work in an SSA office and have experience this elsewhere in the country? Get in touch with
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
How Social Security claimants are being ‘resurrected' after DOGE falsely declares them dead
Americans who had been wrongly declared dead after Elon Musk's government-slashing force was granted access to the Social Security Administration's databases are being forced to prove that they are very much alive. Musk has repeatedly peddled claims that as many as 20 million citizens over the age of 100 have been receiving Social Security checks, an impossibility, considering there are an estimated 101,000 centenarians in the U.S., according to the Pew Research Center. The world's richest man and his Department of Government Efficiency's claims about dead people getting benefits have meant millions of names have been moved to the Social Security Death Master File: a database to keep track of those who should no longer receive payouts as they are no longer with us. However, Social Security claimants who are very much alive have cried foul and the SSA acknowledged that about 600 people a month are placed in the database by mistake, according to the Washington Post. 'We have people who did not receive benefits come in every day with their ID and say, 'I'm not dead, I'm alive!,' Rennie Glasgow, a technical analyst at the SSA, told the Daily Beast. More than 70 million Americans rely on Social Security, including retirees, disabled individuals, and surviving family members. For many, the benefits are often their primary source of income, and even short delays could leave vulnerable people in dire financial jeopardy. Glasgow, who handles the agency's most challenging cases at the Schenectady office, said that DOGE employees 'went into the system and they killed off people.' 'About four million people, they marked them as dead,' Glasgow said. 'But they're not sure if those people were supposed to be marked as dead, so they're sending us an email saying, 'If these people come into the office with their identification, you can reinstate them.'' Glasgow explained that staff cuts have led to 12 hour working days for those that remain and inflated wait times at the system's payment center. The overall number of employees at the SSA has dropped from 57,000 to 50,000. Now, Glasgow said, SSA staff have to go through a long and arduous process of 'resurrecting' those mistakenly marked as deceased, which can take several days. 'It stops their car payments, it stops their credit, it stops their ability to do anything,' the SSA employee explained. 'Their identification gets flagged. And most times those things have to go to the payment center.' In just one example Richard VanMetter learned he had mistakenly added to the Death Master File in February after he had been locked out of his bank account. The government took back his last Social Security check and shut off his retirement checks and Medicare. 'Hi, I'm dead,' VanMetter, who is still attempting to get his pension back, recalled to The Post after he arrived at the SSA office in Boca Raton, Florida. 'Another one,' a guard responded, he said. A field worker created records for his bank to assist him in getting back into his account. 'It was like she was rebuilding my whole database,' he said. 'It wasn't just unclicking the dead box.' The Independent has contacted DOGE for comment. When previously asked about the criticism, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said: 'A previous investigation revealed the SSA paid at least $71.8 billion in improper payments. "The Social Security Administration is now working to find even more waste, fraud, and abuse in the Administration's whole-of-government effort to protect American taxpayers.'
The Independent
24-04-2025
- Business
- The Independent
How Social Security claimants are being ‘resurrected' after DOGE falsely declares them dead
Americans who had been wrongly declared dead after Elon Musk's government-slashing force was granted access to the Social Security Administration's databases are being forced to prove that they are very much alive. Musk has repeatedly peddled claims that as many as 20 million citizens over the age of 100 have been receiving Social Security checks, an impossibility, considering there are an estimated 101,000 centenarians in the U.S., according to the Pew Research Center. The world's richest man and his Department of Government Efficiency's claims about dead people getting benefits have meant millions of names have been moved to the Social Security Death Master File: a database to keep track of those who should no longer receive payouts as they are no longer with us. However, Social Security claimants who are very much alive have cried foul and the SSA acknowledged that about 600 people a month are placed in the database by mistake, according to the Washington Post. 'We have people who did not receive benefits come in every day with their ID and say, 'I'm not dead, I'm alive!,' Rennie Glasgow, a technical analyst at the SSA, told the Daily Beast. More than 70 million Americans rely on Social Security, including retirees, disabled individuals, and surviving family members. For many, the benefits are often their primary source of income, and even short delays could leave vulnerable people in dire financial jeopardy. Glasgow, who handles the agency's most challenging cases at the Schenectady office, said that DOGE employees 'went into the system and they killed off people.' 'About four million people, they marked them as dead,' Glasgow said. 'But they're not sure if those people were supposed to be marked as dead, so they're sending us an email saying, 'If these people come into the office with their identification, you can reinstate them.'' Glasgow explained that staff cuts have led to 12 hour working days for those that remain and inflated wait times at the system's payment center. The overall number of employees at the SSA has dropped from 57,000 to 50,000. Now, Glasgow said, SSA staff have to go through a long and arduous process of 'resurrecting' those mistakenly marked as deceased, which can take several days. 'It stops their car payments, it stops their credit, it stops their ability to do anything,' the SSA employee explained. 'Their identification gets flagged. And most times those things have to go to the payment center.' In just one example Richard VanMetter learned he had mistakenly added to the Death Master File in February after he had been locked out of his bank account. The government took back his last Social Security check and shut off his retirement checks and Medicare. 'Hi, I'm dead,' VanMetter, who is still attempting to get his pension back, recalled to The Post after he arrived at the SSA office in Boca Raton, Florida. 'Another one,' a guard responded, he said. A field worker created records for his bank to assist him in getting back into his account. 'It was like she was rebuilding my whole database,' he said. 'It wasn't just unclicking the dead box.' The Independent When previously asked about the criticism, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said: 'A previous investigation revealed the SSA paid at least $71.8 billion in improper payments. "The Social Security Administration is now working to find even more waste, fraud, and abuse in the Administration's whole-of-government effort to protect American taxpayers.'
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
DOGE's Social Security Cuts Create Chaotic ‘Day of the Dead Living'
What might be called Day of the Dead Living is being continually played out at a Social Security Administration (SSA) office in upstate New York, and likely across the country. 'We have people who did not receive benefits come in every day with their ID and say, 'I'm not dead, I'm alive!' says Rennie Glasgow, a claims technical analyst with 15 years of experience at the agency who handles the most challenging cases at the Schenectady office. These supposed dead are not to be confused with more than 6,000 living immigrants the Trump administration moved to the SSA Death Master File (DMF) in an attempt to force them to self-deport by depriving them of the ability to work legally. Many more American citizens were wrongly consigned to the DMF after Elon Musk's DOGE goons bullied their way onto the SSA's databases and mistakenly decided that 'countless' people listed as 120 years old and older were receiving benefits. '[DOGE staffers] went into the system and they killed off people,' Glasgow told The Daily Beast. 'About 4 million people, they marked them as dead. But they're not sure if those people were supposed to be marked as dead, so they're sending us an email saying, 'If these people come into the office with their identification, you can reinstate them.'' The 55-year-old father of six added, 'So we're going to be resurrecting a lot of dead people.' And restoring financial life is never simple. 'We have to go through this long process to resurrect them, to get them back as alive, which can take about three to four days,' Glasgow said. He noted that until people get off the DMF, they endure a kind of financial death. 'When they mark someone dead on the Social Security record, it stops their life,' he said. 'It stops their car payments, it stops their credit, it stops their ability to do anything. Their identification gets flagged. And most times those things have to go to the payment center.' The system's payment centers have suffered DOGE cutbacks that have at least doubled and maybe tripled the wait people must endure. 'What used to take 15 days to get done when we send something to a payment center is now taking about 30 to 45,' Glasgow reported. Cutbacks have also hit Glasgow's office hard. The staff there has been cut from 38 to a bare-bones 30. Only four of the 18 service windows are open due to the staffing shortage. And a person could finally step up to a window after a three-hour wait only to encounter more DOGE-induced inefficiency. 'Every day, between the hours of 10 to about 12, our system goes down,' Glasgow told The Daily Beast. 'So it's not just that people are sitting there, waiting for us to help them. When they get to the window, they're told, 'Our system is down. We can't help you. We don't know what's going on.' The staffing might get even tighter. Glasgow says that on Friday, DOGE sent out a renewed offer of a lump sum of $20,000 for early retirement. DOGE is simultaneously making the workday more stressful for the remaining staff. 'Every day there is a new email that is either derogatory, disgusting, [or] threatling,' Glasgow said. In the DOGE era, even missives that might have otherwise seemed positive can have a malevolent undertone. 'Today, there was a new email that came out [saying] that, 'We want to recognize Social Security month. April every year will be Social Security month, and we will continue with our efficiency push to maximize customer service,'' Glasgow said on Wednesday. The DOGE-controlled SSA did not respond to a request for comment. Glasgow, who is vice president of the union representing the region's SSA workers, Local 3343 of the American Federation of Government Employees, cannot help but feel there is a deliberate effort to sabotage the heretofore popular SSA to the point that the public will turn against it. The next step would be privatization and access to the trillions in the SSA coffers. Whatever the motive, the purported 'efficiency' people are creating onerous inefficiencies. 'It's crazy,' Glasgow said. Glasgow figures it will all continue even if Musks reduces his direct involvement next month, as he said he will this week. Whether or not Musk goes, the Day of the Dead Living seems sure to continue.
