FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
March 19th, 2025
Contact: Linda Benesch, lbenesc
DOGE’s Outrageous Changes Are Putting Our Social Security System in Grave Danger
(Washington, DC) — The following is a statement from Nancy Altman, President of Social Security Works, on the news that the Social Security Administration (SSA) will require beneficiaries to visit local field offices to prove their identities:
“Elon Musk’s DOGE and the acting Social Security commissioner, whose appointment it orchestrated, are forcing this and other harmful changes in the name of nonexistent fraud. The change will drive millions of additional Americans, many who have serious mobility issues, into already overcrowded offices for no reason.
Over 99 percent of all Social Security payments are made accurately and on time. Most of the inaccurate payments are mistakes, which are corrected — not fraud, which must be caught and prosecuted.
Vague claims of going after ‘fraud, waste and abuse’ simply disguise the waste, abuse, and potential fraud that DOGE is creating. Despite Leland Dudek’s claims, the only thing putting the American people’s personal Social Security data at risk is that Dudek turned it over to DOGE operatives. These operatives have no legitimate reason to have the data and are handling it in a frighteningly insecure fashion.
Under orders from DOGE, Social Security now plans to require people to come into field offices to verify their identity, while also closing dozens of field offices and pushing out thousands of staff.
This will make it far harder for the American people to claim their earned benefits. It could even cause major delays, and ultimately collapse the system, by overwhelming the field offices.”
###