\u00a0<\/p>\n Mounting mistakes in the Social Security Administration (SSA) have resulted in delays and disruptions in benefits and an uptick in the number of living beneficiaries being listed as dead. Notably, this uptick in mistakes follows Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cuts in staff and efforts to quickly update SSA\u2019s computer system.<\/span><\/p>\n Rennie Glasgow is a Social Security staffer in Schenectady, N.Y. He is also a local American Federation of Government Employees representative. He and his co-workers are not resurrectionists. However, they have been raising Social Security recipients from the dead recently.<\/span><\/p>\n Glasgow told KFF Health News<\/a> that there has been a marked increase in living people whose Social Security records list them as dead.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n When these walking dead turn up at his office, Glasgow reports, \u201cThere is no information on the record, just that they are dead.\u201d As a result, staff have to verify that the recipient is alive and process the paperwork to rectify the mistake.<\/span><\/p>\n Another factor that may add to the increase in SSA beneficiaries being erroneously classified as dead is President Trump\u2019s efforts to push immigrants out of the country.<\/span><\/p>\n An April story from the Associated Press reported that the administration had <\/span>reclassified over 6,000 legal immigrants as dead<\/span><\/a>. The move canceled their Social Security numbers, making it impossible for them to work in the United States.<\/span><\/p>\n These immigrants were allowed to enter and stay in the country temporarily under the Biden Administration. However, Trump\u2019s actions were designed to force them to \u201cself-deport\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Another factor influencing mistakes made by SSA is staff reductions made by DOGE.<\/p>\n Saving Advice reported on those changes launched last month and the consequences that many close to SSA predicted.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cEverything they\u2019re doing is <\/span>driving this agency to system collapse<\/span><\/a>,\u201d O\u2019Malley told <\/span>CNN<\/span><\/i>. \u201cIt will lead to interruptions in service, and that will ultimately cascade into more frequent system interruptions for the processing of claims, ultimately leading to system collapse and eventually the interruption of benefits.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n O\u2019Malley told KFF Health that attendees at a recent Racine, WI, reported false SSA deaths.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThey are terminating people\u2019s financial lives,\u201d O\u2019Malley said.<\/span><\/p>\n A Social Security number is needed for employment, banking, and credit accounts, insurance, and other daily necessities. By being declared dead, your Social Security number becomes inactive.<\/p>\n In April, DOGE launched a campaign to reduce SSA expenses and make it more efficient. Part of that effort was to cut 7,000 staff. However, O\u2019Malley and others predicted that it would wreak havoc on the agency.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201c<\/span>The only way that slashing the number of workers will save large sums of money is by making it hard for people to access benefits they\u2019ve earned<\/span><\/a>,\u201d according to the Economic Policy Institute. \u201cSuch backdoor benefit cuts, and making a popular government program look bad, are the real goals behind DOGE attacks on Social Security.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Rich Couture, a spokesperson for the American Federation of Government Employees\u2019 Social Security Administration general committee, is not so direct.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt has never been explained with any degree of clarity how they came up with that figure,\u201d said Couture. \u201cWhat\u2019s being served by that by a loss of 7,000 jobs? How does any of that supposedly makes this operation more efficient? <\/span>How does it improve service? How does it improve productivity? <\/span><\/a>Our position is that losing 7,000 people doesn\u2019t do any of those things.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The SSA pays benefits to almost 70 million Americans. Furthermore, that number is growing faster than at any time in over 100 years.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The U. S. Census Bureau puts citizens 65 or over at 55.8 million, 16.8 percent of the nation\u2019s population. That segment grew nearly five times faster than the total population from 1920 to 2020.<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.savingadvice.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mark-timberlake-n8Bepoi9YRc-unsplash-scaled.jpg\")
Not Dead Yet<\/span><\/h2>\n
Immigrants<\/span><\/h2>\n
DOGE Disruption<\/span><\/h2>\n
Efficient Or Ineffective<\/span><\/h2>\n
Staffing Cut As Recipients Grow<\/span><\/h2>\n
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