In a recent interview on Fox News, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt clarified President Donald Trump's directive to Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to expose fraudulent activities within the Social Security Department.
This move has been met with resistance from Democrats, who have been critical of Musk's involvement with the Trump administration and the proposed overhaul of the U.S. Agency for International Development.
According to the Daily Caller, the criticism intensified after Musk shared an image on social media displaying a chart from the Social Security database, which included ages ranging from zero to an implausible 369 years. Leavitt, however, dismissed the criticism as fear-mongering by the media.
She stated, Ive been fighting fake news reporters all day long here in the Washington D.C. swamp who are trying to fear monger the American people into believing that this administration is going after their hard earned tax dollars and their hard earned Social Security checks.
Leavitt further emphasized that the President's directive to Musk and the DOGE team was to identify fraudulent activities within the Social Security Administration. She stated, They havent dug into the books yet, but they suspect that there are tens of millions of deceased people who are receiving fraudulent Social Security payments. So their goal in going into the Social Security Administration is to identify three things.
In July 2023, an audit by the Social Security Administrations Office of the Inspector General revealed that approximately 18.9 million number holders were born in 1920 or earlier, yet their Numident record lacked any death information. This revelation has raised questions about the integrity of the Social Security system and the potential for fraudulent activities.
Leavitt outlined the three primary objectives of Musk and the DOGE team's investigation into the Social Security Administration. She stated, Number one, to identify duplicate payments and to end them. Number two, to identify payments that are going to deceased people who are no longer living and should no longer be receiving that money. Number three, to protect the integrity of this system for hard working Americans who have been paying into it their entire lives."
Leavitt reassured the public that those who have honestly contributed to the system will continue to receive their Social Security checks. She warned against buying into the narrative propagated by the media, which she accused of attempting to instill fear and doubt about the Trump administration's intentions.
The Social Security Agency's 2023 report follows a 2015 report that called for the agency to address discrepancies within its database. The 2015 audit discovered 6.5 million people with Social Security numbers but no recorded death information.
The 2023 audit noted, We believe it likely SSA did not receive or record most of the 18.9 million individuals death information primarily because the individuals died decades ago before the use of electronic death reporting. Resolving these discrepancies will improve the accuracy and completeness of the DMF.
The DMF, or Social Security Death Master File, is a list of deceased individuals who had Social Security numbers and whose deaths were reported to the SSA. The ongoing investigation by Musk and the DOGE team aims to rectify these discrepancies and ensure the integrity of the Social Security system, thereby protecting the hard-earned money of American citizens.
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