For those who have been following the news -- the Social Security website has been continually crashing and having access & information issues ever since Musk's DOGE crew started mucking around with it. At this point -- it is up even less than Twitter. Prior to DOGE the Social Security website had a reputation as the most reliable U.S. government website with the highest percentage of up time. What is happening to the Social Security website is a glimpse of the future after DOGE destroys everything that works within the federal government. Effectively the DOGE crew are causing a Twitter-style technology disaster across all government computer systems. Untested new software installed by DOGE employees crashing Social Security servers: report https://www.rawstory.com/social-security-trump/ Retirees and other beneficiaries of funds distributed by the Social Security Administration (SSA) are having major problems accessing their online accounts since staffers from Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have assumed control of the agency According to a report from the Washington Post, access to accounts has been unavailable for hours extending into days after new software was installed, with a message popping up reading "Online Service Not Available" and ending there. As the Post's Lisa Rein, Hannah Natanson and Elizabeth Dwoskin are reporting, "Even when the site is back online, many customers have not been able to sign in to their accounts — or have logged in only to find information missing. For others, access to the system has been slow, requiring repeated tries to get in." The problems seem to stem from DOGE changes with the report adding, "Many of the network outages appear to be caused by an expanded fraud check system imposed by the DOGE team, current and former officials said. The technology staff did not test the new software against a high volume of users to see if the servers could handle the rush, these officials said." This follows complaints from staffers who have not been fired as part of Donald Trump's attempt to restructure government, which led one employee to say the agency is in a "death spiral" since the takeover. According to one employee who wished to remain anonymous, "It’s just been a lot of craziness, a lot of foolishness. Until they get rid of Doge and the person in office right now, and the Republicans actually get a backbone and stand up for something for once in their lives, things are just going to be complete chaos. That’s really the best word to describe SSA right now, just complete, utter chaos.” They added, “They couldn’t understand the coding, so everything they said SSA was doing illegally, they weren’t. Common sense is something they lack. They don’t know what they’re doing.” On Monday the Post is reporting that massive panic set in last week after "many of the 7.4 million adults and children receiving monthly benefits under the anti-poverty program known as Supplemental Security Income, or SSI" were alerted they were "currently not receiving payments,” according to internal documents. According to Darcy Milburn, director of Social Security and health-care policy at non-profit Arc, "Social Security’s response has been, ‘Oops.’ “It’s woefully insufficient when we’re talking about a government agency that’s holding someone’s lifeline in their hands." One senior staffer told the Post, "We’re just spiking like crazy. It’s people who are terrified that DOGE is messing with our systems. It’s the sheer massive volume of freaked-out people.” You can read more here.
Has there ever been a President this bad at the job ? Failing in multiple areas some on historical levels and done so quickly. This is what happens when you elect a vengeful aging man and allow him to appoint a bunch of idiots as his staff. It's a complete train wreck as expected. All the hard numbers on the economy will look real bad by end of year. His fans can't blame Covid this time out it's all on him he inherited a growing economy, a strong stock market, and full employment. US Fed will just allow it to develop they can't fight a rapidly slowing economy and growing inflation at the same time. I'm sure if they could they would just say it's the tariffs stupid but that would spook markets even more.
Social Security Is Totally Collapsing Thanks to Elon Musk’s DOGE People are warning that the crucial agency is in a “death spiral.” https://newrepublic.com/post/193692/elon-musk-doge-cuts-social-security-collapsing
Trump said he'd protect Social Security — Elon Musk is killing it from inside: employee https://www.rawstory.com/social-security-2671727616/
For Musk, Social Security means SS. He is re-homing all SS communications to a white supremacist Nazi platform. Let's ask -- what percentage of elderly people are on social media, much less being on X/Twitter. Social Security Administration ‘will be using X to communicate’ moving forward https://thehill.com/homenews/admini...ty-administration-social-platform-x-releases/ The Social Security Administration (SSA) unveiled Thursday that it would use the social platform X to make announcements going forward, instead of traditional press releases or memos typically posted to the agency’s website. “The agency will be using X to communicate to the press and the public — formerly known as Twitter,” Linda Kerr-Davis, SSA Midwest-West regional commissioner told employees in a call Thursday, according to Federal News Network (FNN). “This will become our communication mechanism,” she told reporters. The shift comes as communications staff at the agency has dwindled due to reassignments in front-facing roles at field offices across the country. Officials announced that regional SSA offices would no longer have fully staffed public affairs offices as a result. “If you’re used to getting press releases and Dear Colleague letters, you might want to subscribe to the official SSA X account, so you can stay up to date with agency news,” Kerr-Davis said, as reported by FNN. “I know this probably sounds very foreign to you — it did to me as well — and not what we are used to, but we are in different times now,” she added. The SSA’s last press release, which was posted March 27 on the website, denied reports that local field offices may be closing. It also features a link to an inactive social media account for the agency that encouraged website viewers to follow the press office on X. The past few months have seen considerable changes at the agency under the Trump administration, which announced new verification standards that were later walked back by officials who said they were evaluating policies to prevent fraud. The updated policies have caused some concerns for rural communities and people who require assistance to travel to the in-person offices or those who have trouble logging in to their accounts online for help. The final memo on its website said the agency would work with the public to address the issues. “SSA works closely with local congressional delegations before closing any office permanently,” the last release reads. “The agency also reassigns employees from an affected office to other locations to help communities access in-person services.” Officials noted that while no field offices have been permanently closed, some buildings may have their leases terminated as the department has turned mostly to virtual hearings. The Hill reached out to the SSA for comment.
Let's catch up with how Trump is destroying Social Security. It is more than simply DOGE crashing to Social Security website continuously to the point where it is effectively inaccessible for many people. The destruction of our social security system is quite deliberate. ‘As bad as it’s ever been’: Donald Trump is breaking Social Security in North Carolina https://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/article304328601.html Social Security has long been called “the third rail” of American politics – an untouchable program politicians can’t cut or disrupt without getting burned. But President Donald Trump, who has an almost mystical knack for avoiding consequences, is putting that warning to a test. His administration has pushed out Social Security workers and fouled up the agency’s computer, phone and in-person services for retired and disabled people and others to a point where even “Teflon Don” can’t avoid a political scalding. More than one in five Americans receive Social Security benefits. In North Carolina, where Social Security service had been improving under the Biden administration, the nationwide breakdown is being keenly felt. Kevin Rodgers, a Raleigh attorney who has handled Social Security disability cases for 33 years, said service from the agency is “as bad as it’s ever been.” “It is very difficult to get through,” he said. “Even my paralegals can’t get through. A lot of times the call will drop after they’ve been on hold for two hours.” The crisis is arising from a convergence of two moves by the Trump administration and the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) headed by Elon Musk. The Social Security Administration, already understaffed when Trump took office, has lost more workers. Some took the buyout offer intended to trim the federal workforce. Others, who had been working from home, decided to leave in the face of Trump’s back-to-the office orders. Meanwhile, DOGE has imposed “anti-fraud” measures that have made it more difficult to handle Social Security matters by phone or online, while also making it harder to get an in-person appointment at a Social Security office. I visited the Social Security office in Raleigh this week. There is no admission without an appointment. About 35 people sat in a waiting area overseen by a security guard and two police officers. The office administrator said all questions need to go through the regional Social Security Administration office in Atlanta. I emailed questions but have received no reply. People exiting the office said they were there for a variety of issues, including tax information, seeking support for a minor or disability payments or obtaining a Social Security card. Two said their issues were resolved, but others complained about not being able to get through on the phone, waiting for hours in the waiting room and being told to come back for an appointment that is weeks away. Charles Hall, a Raleigh attorney who has specialized in Social Security disability claims since 1978, said the Social Security Administration has long been underfunded and slow functioning, but since Trump took office, “It’s just nosedived. They’ve just been disrupting everything and scaring everyone.” Hall is winding down his practice but regrets having to hand it to his partner when it’s so hard to help clients with their Social Security needs. “I’ve never seen anything like this,” he said. “Is it going to completely devolve to a point where they can’t get out the monthly benefits? I just don’t know how bad it’s going to end up. Is it going to be total chaos?” People who can’t get through to Social Security are calling members of Congress for help. Rep. Deborah Ross (D-2nd District) is hearing that frustration. On Monday, Ross hosted a virtual discussion with advocates for older adults. One of them was Jennie Griggs, program director at the Northern and Eastern Wake Senior Centers. She who many people have come to the centers for help after being unable to communicate with Social Security. “They will hang on the line forever and ever and ever and they can’t get anything. There’s no response,” she said. Ross said the disruption reflects the Trump administration’s attitude toward serving people in need. “We’ve got an administration right now that is frustrated that people are using programs that are part of the social safety net,” she said. “We should be thinking about how to sustain (the programs) as opposed to having an administration that is trying to dissuade people from getting the benefits they have earned.” Hall said his long experience with Social Security tells him Trump will not get away with touching the third rail. “You don’t screw with Social Security,” he said. “Pay them the benefits, or there’s going to be hell to pay.”
Reality: A fraud rate of under 0.0018%. 'A huge scandal': Internal doc exposes Trump hunt for Social Security fraud as a sham https://www.alternet.org/trump-on-social-security/ An internal Trump administration document reportedly shows that anti-fraud checks recently installed at the Social Security agency have found just two cases of potentially improper benefit claims out of more than 110,000—a rate of 0.0018%. The documents, first reported Thursday by Nextgov/FCW, further undercut President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk's narrative that Social Security is brimming with fraud. Musk falsely claimed in March that "40% of the calls into Social Security were fraudulent." The anti-fraud checks for Social Security have been applied only to benefit claims made over the phone. According to the internal document, "No significant fraud has been detected from the flagged cases." Earlier this year, amid widespread outrage, the Social Security Administration (SSA) walked back a proposal to scrap many of its phone-based benefit claim services. Nextgov/FCW noted Thursday that the Trump administration's deployment of the anti-fraud tools beginning last month "did cause delays, as SSA changed its phone procedures to add the checks on the backend." "The lags stem from the three-day hold placed on telephone claims in order to run the anti-fraud [checks], a move that 'delays payments and benefits to customers, despite an extremely low risk of fraud,'" Nextgov/FCW reported, citing the internal document. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said in a statement that "the Trump-Musk Social Security takeover has only meant more chaos and confusion for Americans." "Every one of DOGE's so-called 'mistakes' is a backdoor cut to people's benefits," said Warren. "There's nothing efficient about making it harder for people to access the checks they’ve earned and are owed." On social media, Warren called the revelations in the internal administration document "a HUGE scandal." It's long been clear that Social Security fraud is minuscule, with an inspector general report published last year estimating that just 0.84% of Social Security benefits paid out between 2015 and 2022 were dispensed improperly—and even those improper payments were not necessarily fraudulent. The new reporting out Thursday bolstered warnings that the Trump administration's hunt for fraud is a mere pretext for slashing Social Security benefits and weakening the program. "Turns out there ISN'T rampant Social Security fraud, but Elon's witch hunt, driven by his insane conspiracy theories, IS keeping seniors from getting their benefits as quickly as they should be," Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) wrote on social media. "THIS is Republican governing: hunting for nonexistent fraud while breaking Social Security." Frank Bisignano, the newly confirmed SSA administrator, has close ties to Musk's Department of Government Efficiency and has defended the president's false claim that tens of millions of "dead" people are receiving Social Security benefits. CNN reported earlier this week that as SSA combs "through its databases to check whether beneficiaries are alive or dead" at Trump and Musk's behest, agency staffers are "seeing more people coming in to be resurrected" after being falsely deemed deceased. "I've been saying it all along," former SSA chief Martin O'Malley wrote Thursday. "Elon Musk is the biggest fraud, not Social Security."
The only thing DOGE did at the Social Security Administration is to create a huge backlog. Not a dime was saved from preventing non-existent "fraud". Social Security Faces Blowback As Fraud Detection Flags Just 2 Claims — While Retirement Backlog Nears 600,000 https://www.benzinga.com/personal-f...lags-just-2-claims-while-retirement-backlog-n
DOGE has crippled the Social Security website. At this point the DOGE activities can only be considered a deliberate attempt to undermine the social security system. Website crashes and missing info crippling Social Security after DOGE overhaul https://www.rawstory.com/social-security-doge-2672410586/ Since Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) took effective control of the Social Security Administration, the agency that services the needs of the Americans who have paid into it throughout their lives has become such a mess that officials have started hiding unflattering metrics. According to a report from the Washington Post, the purging of employees at Social Security along with a change in how the agency does business by DOGE has resulted in "website crashes, overloaded servers and long lines at field offices" due to cost-cutting. The Saturday report by the Post's Meryl Kornfield and Hannah Natanson notes that the agency has now "... stopped publicly reporting its processing times for benefits, the 1-800 number’s current call wait time and numerous other performance metrics, which customers and advocates have used to track the agency’s struggling customer service programs." According to those advocates for the 74 million Americans who rely on Social Security, hiding the metrics is a betrayal of the public's trust. Ex-Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, who served as a Social Security commissioner, pointed out, "It’s a shame that now they are trashing the trust that the public should have in numbers that are timely and accurate and real." Alex Lawson, executive director of the Social Security Works, was more pointed in his criticism. “If they think this lack of transparency will fool the American people, they’re in for a surprise,” he predicted. “People notice when they can’t get an appointment because their local field office has lost half its staff. When checks and decisions are delayed. When they get the runaround from an AI chatbot on the phone, instead of getting to talk to a real person.” According to the Post, "The new website now shows only the percentage of calls and number of calls handled through automation, the average speed to answer and the total number of customers served. That data is only available for the fiscal year through the last month that data is available. And while the previous dashboard allowed users to click on data points and see trends over time, the new page does not show historical data." "Pages with information about the processing times for retirement, survivor, disability and Medicare benefits are now gone," the Post is reporting before adding that information on disability benefits have been excised from the new page. You can read more here.
Step one: Gut the Social Security Administration's cyber security office. Step two: ? Step three: Scammers profit. Social Security retirement accounts are being sold online – What you need to know https://www.kiro7.com/news/social-s...hat-you-need-know/Z3JSRGCD7JA4TKIORLEPBD4ESE/