The Social Security Administration has taken a monumental step in cleaning up its records by removing individuals falsely listed as 120 years old or older. Led by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), exposes the staggering scale of inaccuracies that have existed within the system for decades. Did these inefficiencies cost the nation to drain billions from taxpayers?
Massive Record Cleanup Reveals Systemic Issues
The Social Security Administration has officially removed 12.3 million individuals falsely listed as 120 years old or older from its records. This massive cleanup effort has been spearheaded by the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), established by President Donald Trump to address fraud, waste, and abuse in government operations.
The scale of these inaccuracies has shocked officials and taxpayers alike, with Frank Bisignano, the new Social Security Administrator, stating that “the amount of people that were not alive that did not show on the system… was outstanding. Millions and millions. And that is a source of potential for fraud.” The cleanup process occurred in stages, with DOGE initially reporting 3.2 million individuals aged 120+ marked as deceased in March, followed by 11 million by April 24, and finally reaching the total of 12.3 million.
After 11 weeks, @SocialSecurity has finished this major cleanup initiative: ~12.3M individuals aged 120+ have now been marked as deceased.
Some complex cases remain, such as individuals with 2+ different birth dates on file. These will be investigated in a follow-up effort. https://t.co/u942yTxlsG pic.twitter.com/DaXyqx5e4k
— Department of Government Efficiency (@DOGE) May 23, 2025
Significant Financial Impact and Remaining Challenges
DOGE reports that this record purge has already resulted in an estimated $170 billion in savings for American taxpayers. A breakdown of the removed records showed millions of individuals incorrectly listed in various age brackets from 120 to 169 years old, with none of these individuals being alive.
The cleanup effort isn’t completely finished, as DOGE noted that “some complex cases remain, such as individuals with 2+ different birth dates on file. These will be investigated in a follow-up effort.” Additionally, Elon Musk, who has been leading the task force but plans to step back to focus on Tesla, previously highlighted issues with 2.1 million non-citizens receiving social security numbers in 2024, suggesting additional areas requiring scrutiny.
.@elonmusk and Antonio Gracias show a chart of new non-citizen Social Security Numbers issued: "This literally blew us away."
"We went there to find fraud, and we found this by accident."pic.twitter.com/2Qpqf5uPi6
— Josh Caplan (@joshdcaplan) March 31, 2025
Legal Battles Over Access to Records
The path to this record cleanup was not without obstacles, as DOGE faced significant legal challenges in accessing Social Security data. U.S. District Judge Ellen Lipton Hollander initially ruled against DOGE’s access to Social Security systems, citing the federal Privacy Act and labeling the task force’s mission as a “fishing expedition.”
The Trump administration was forced to file an emergency petition to the U.S. Supreme Court after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upheld Hollander’s order. Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued that “when district courts attempt to transform themselves into the human resources department for the Executive Branch, the irreparable harm to the government is clear,” highlighting the tensions between judicial oversight and executive functions in addressing government inefficiencies.