Trump's new Social Security head admits dead Americans 'aren't necessarily' getting checks
WASHINGTON ― For the past week, President Donald Trump and Elon Musk have repeatedly pushed unsubstantiated claims that dead Americans listed as 150 or older are receiving Social Security payments.
But even Trump's new top Social Security chief is refuting the baseless assertions.
In a statement Wednesday, newly named Social Security Acting Commissioner Lee Dudek addressed what he called "recent reporting" about the number of people older than age 100 who could be receiving benefits from Social Security.
"The reported data are people in our records with a Social Security number who do not have a date of death associated with their record. These individuals are not necessarily receiving benefits," Dudek said.
Dudek did not mention the origins of the claims: Trump and the billionaire tech entrepreneur Musk, who have alleged widespread fraud in the Social Security Administration as Musk's Department of Government Efficiency works to drastically cut the federal government.
Musk has posted screenshots on X of the Social Security database ‒ purported as a DOGE discovery ‒ that lists the age ranges of Americans 100, 150, 200 and older who are in the SSA system. "We’ve got people in there that are 150 years old. Now do you know anyone 150?" Musk said from the Oval Office last week. "They should be in the Guinness Book of World Records. They’re missing out."
But Social Security officials were already aware of the quirk in the database.
A 2023 report from the nonpartisan inspector general for the Social Security Administration found 18.9 million Americans born before 1920 were listed in the Social Security database but lacked death information on their records. However, the report said almost none of the deceased individuals were receiving payments ‒ contradicting the the claims of Musk and Trump.
Nevertheless, Trump has continued to push the claims.
"Social Security, what's happening there is going to be one of the great potential scandals in history," Trump said in a speech Wednesday night in Miami. "Listen to this: 3.6 million people are on Social Security rolls from the age of 110 years old to 119. Do you think there are really that many? Those people are seriously old, but it gets worse."
He later added: "The record topper ‒ there is one person on Social Security who's 360 years old, which is approximately 110 years older than our country."
The White House has pointed to a 2024 inspector general audit that found $71.8 billion in improper Social Security payments from 2015 to 2022, accounting for less than 1% of the $8.6 trillion in benefits paid over that period. Most were overpayments and some were underpayments, according to the report.
Trump tapped Dudek this week to replace Michelle King, the former acting Social Security commissioner, who resigned after DOGE sought access to sensitive records containing the private information of Americans. Trump is seeking Senate confirmation of Frank Bisignano, president and CEO of financial services company Fiserv, the president's pick to lead the Social Security Administration full time.
Dudek said DOGE personnel can't make changes to Social Security systems, benefit payments and other information, and only have "read access" to the system.
"I am confident that with DOGE's help and the commitment of our executive team and workforce, that Social Security will continue to deliver for the American people," he said.
Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.