Are Dead People Getting Social Security Like Trump and Musk Claim?

When President Trump announced plans to form his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), it was pretty clear that Social Security would wind up a target. Social Security is facing serious cuts in about a decade’s time, so reducing waste and conserving funds are essential.

In the course of digging into the agency, the Trump administration came across what it thought were some pretty serious findings — that the Social Security  Administration (SSA) was paying monthly benefits to millions of dead people over 100 years old. Both Trump and DOGE head Elon Musk took to social media to denounce the practice and reassure Americans that they were going to put an end to it.

But is Social Security really paying benefits to millions of deceased Americans? That’s actually not the story.

There are some errors, but to less of an extreme

It’s absolutely true that Social Security is guilty of overpaying some beneficiaries. An audit of the program’s payments found that between 2015 and 2022, the agency paid out almost $72 billion in erroneous benefits.

However, it’s important to take that number in context. During that time, those incorrect payments represented less than 1% of total benefits paid by the SSA. And while it’s a practice that should be stopped and addressed, the situation isn’t as dire as Trump and Musk may be making it out to be.

The SSA does acknowledge that it may have made some payments to dead people — but not the millions the president and Musk claim.

Why the confusion? Much of it boils down to the outdated software Social Security uses to track beneficiaries. Entries with missing or incomplete birthdays are set to default to a reference point of more than 150 years ago, which explains why it would appear that dead people are still being paid.

Furthermore, the SSA’s software lacks the capacity to properly update its database when recipients pass away in some cases. This doesn’t necessarily mean that those people continue to receive benefits after their passing, though.

There’s clearly work to be done

Social Security cannot afford to lose money. As it is, benefit cuts may be on the table in about a decade’s time if lawmakers don’t manage to find a way to pump more revenue into the program.

But the reason benefit cuts may be looming isn’t because Social Security is throwing away billions of dollars a year sending benefits to dead people. The issue is that in the coming years, Social Security expects its payroll tax revenue stream to shrink substantially as baby boomers retire in droves.

Where does this leave DOGE? There’s plenty of room for Musk and team to make improvements. Social Security should not be making overpayments, period. And if DOGE is able to find ways to prevent that from happening, that’s not a bad thing.

However, making Social Security a more efficiently run agency could take not only time, but money. Updating the SSA’s software, for example, is likely a multi-million-dollar endeavor. So a balance will need to be struck that allows Social Security to run smoothly while keeping spending to a reasonable level given the program’s pending financial shortfall.