Elon Musk backed off his reported plot to cut off phone service for the public to the Social Security Administration following a hot cascade of criticism from Americans and their lawmakers.
Young DOGE staff complained to Social Security officials about phone fraud they have yet to reveal or prove, and called for shutting down claims processing and questions via phone, requiring millions of elderly and disabled Americans to use the internet or travel to Social Security offices to deal with issues in person, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.
DOGE was hit with fury after the news broke.
“Going after 90-year-old grandmas who can’t drive and don’t have a computer?” asked New York Governor Kathy Hochul in a post on X. “That’s just low.”
“Gramma and Grampa are already waiting too long for answers about their Social Security,” Sen. Ed Markey wrote. “Now, Elon Musk and DOGE want to close field offices and take away their option to use the phone. This is outrageous.”
DOGE later issued a statement that the Post report was “inaccurate and misleading,” but did not specify how.
It did confirm that it will no longer allow Social Security recipients to change their direct deposit information by phone. People will have to do that via the internet or in person.
The strategy was widely regarded as a back-door way for Musk to begin dismantling Social Security, a 90-year-old bedrock program that was instituted after the Great Depression that some 70 million Americans rely on for retirement.
Doge claims the program is rife with fraud, but has yet to prove it. Musk has falsely claimed that “tens of millions” of dead people are collecting Social Security checks, which he has complained is a “huge problem,” yet can’t prove it because it’s not happening.
