The Department of Government Efficiency( DOGE) issued a new update in its ongoing audit of the Social Security Administration (SSA). This program has been a major focus for the department, and DOGE has issued updates on its findings weekly on X. In a post about the Social Security matter made on March 12, 2025, DOGE announced a major change to how the SSA will deal with customer service complaints meant to cut down on fraud.
Even as Elon tries to rescue the Social Security program by slashing the fraud, the mainstream media has continued to slander Elon Musk and DOGE. The Washington Post wrote a historical article that tried to paint the move as harming seniors. DOGE replied with its own post, which shut down the baseless allegations. That, in turn, has led to a major spat on X in which commenters have lambasted the Washington Post for its absurd claims.
The controversy began when Karen Tumulty, a journalist for the Washington Post, posted to X. She said, “SCOOP: Social Security, facing pressure from DOGE, weighs big cuts to phone service. Agency considers ending phone program that helps with claims processing and is used by millions, by @hannah_natanson @FedGirlWaPo @lizzadwoskin @faizsays.”
DOGE posted a lengthy response. They said, “This is inaccurate and misleading. @SocialSecurity is protecting our seniors by ensuring bank accounts aren’t changed with little to no authentication. Approx. 40% of Social Security direct deposit fraud is associated with fraudsters calling SSA on the phone and changing the direct deposit bank account from the correct one to a fraudulent one.”
The department explained how this change is actually the standard in other financial services. They said, “Starting on March 29, in order to change the direct deposit bank account, one can: Change it online using 2FA (Call Center Technicians available to assist beneficiaries with website) [or] Change it in person at a SSA Service Center.”
DOGE ended the post about Social Security by explaining how this will not impact service for users. They concluded, “This is identical to the fraud protections at almost all major banks, where deposit changes are made either online or in person. All other SSA phone services remain unchanged.”
Conservative social media users chimed in to address the controversy. One account said, “SSA is already notorious for its telephone service, literally hours of waiting and/or disconnection. If SSA responds to DOGE efficiency audits by further impairing an already dreadful service, perhaps an alternative call system could be outsourced..?”
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Other accounts chimed in with their thoughts, largely agreeing. For example, another said, “Almost like democrats are just lying to us constantly… This fraud must be stopped so that the money goes to real people who need it! Why is this controversial?” One user provided a story from their own Social Security experience, “15 years ago the my mother-in-law’s nursing home called SSA and changed her deposit to them. She was a private pay resident and we were paying for her room out of a trust. I had to call SSA and jump through hoops to get it changed back to the trust. I never got a clear answer as to how this facility was able to change it in the first place.”
Watch the Trump Administration’s Stephen Miller explain how up to a trillion dollars is being stolen from Social Security by foreign fraud gangs here: