Olusegun Ariyo
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is delving deeper into the United States Social Security benefits, reportedly scrutinizing $1.6 trillion worth of payments.
The department is looking through records that include the names of beneficiaries, their date of birth, and income, as the Trump administration deepens its anti-corruption drive.
As part of the extensive research, DOGE has also been making findings about the Social Security Administration’s telephone service, which is used to file initial claims, according to ABC News.
Acting Social Security Administrator Lee Dudek provided details regarding the inquiry in a letter to Congress where President Donald Trump enjoys considerable support on the investigation.
Since returning to the White House in January, the US leader has, on many occasions, referenced the revelations from Social Security payments, vowing to get to the depth.
Trump and Elon Musk, who is providing technical support as a Senior Advisor, severally informed the public that DOGE had uncovered massive “fraud and waste” involving millions of people between 100 and 200+ years old.
During his address to a joint session of Congress, the president said more than 130,000 people, according to the Social Security databases, are aged over 160 years old, saying, “We have a healthier country than I thought.”
Trump also mentioned government databases’ listing of 4.7 million Social Security members from people aged 100 to 109 years old, as well as 3.6 million people from ages 110 to 119.
In February, the president read out what he described as questionable approval under the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and said DOGE was “finding levels of fraud and waste nobody ever thought possible.”
“We’re talking about hundreds of billions of dollars,” he complained. “We have a very corrupt country. And it’s a sad thing to say, but we’re figuring it out,” indicating the conduct of a comprehensive inquiry.
