Roving Periscope: 3.2 mn Americans, aged 120+, disappear from SS database in 10 days
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: The Indian media has often reported dead people ‘voting’ or fake persons receiving benefits of government schemes. Now the US has also discovered 3.2 million people, aged more than 120 years—or nearly one percent of the total US population of 340 million—potentially receiving government benefits, and promptly removed their names from the social security database.
It is, however, unclear if they, or how many of them, are still alive or if they, or their relatives, were receiving the benefits. It is also not known how and why their names remained on the rolls so far or when they were included in the first place.
In a statement, the Elon Musk-led newly-created US Department Of Government Efficiency (DOGE) said it had “cleaned up dead people data,” as it deleted the names of 3.2 million people.
Between March 9 and 17, the DOGE removed these names who were all listed as 120 years or older and have not been officially marked so far as deceased, the media reported on Friday.
The DOGE removed these names between March 8 and March 17. These individuals were all listed as 120 years or older and have now been officially marked as deceased.
Announcing the update on Musk-owned social media platform X, DOGE said that it has been conducting a cleanup of records for the past two weeks. “Approximately 3.2 million number holders, all listed age 120+, have now been marked as deceased. More work still to be done,” it said.
Musk wrote: “Cleaning up the dead people database.”
So, the population of US individuals aged 120 years and above has declined by over 3.26 million within just nine days. The figures, which compare living counts from March 8 to March 17, highlight significant decreases across all age groups above 120.
The steepest decline was observed in the 140-149 age group, which saw a reduction of 1.13 million individuals, followed closely by the 130-139 age bracket, which lost 1.126 million people. The 120-129 age group recorded a drop of 817,478, while the 150-159 age category experienced a comparatively smaller decrease of 186,415.
In February, Musk had pointed out issues with Social Security records, stating that millions of deceased individuals were still classified as alive. He warned that such discrepancies could cause errors in benefits distribution.
President Donald Trump had also voiced similar concerns, claiming that millions of centenarians remained on the records, with some even continuing to receive payments.
In response, the Social Security Administration (SSA) clarified that being listed in the database does not necessarily mean an individual is receiving payments. The agency highlighted the importance of maintaining accurate records, even for those not collecting benefits.
A report from Social Security’s Inspector-General in July 2024 revealed that between 2015 and 2022, the agency mistakenly issued USD 71.8 billion in improper payments — less than 1 percent of total benefits — mostly due to overpayments to living recipients.
Some of these discrepancies stem from the Social Security system’s software, which, by default, sets incomplete or missing birthdates to more than 150 years ago. Reports from 2023 and 2024 indicated that SSA has yet to fully update its system for tracking deaths accurately. Currently, the database still contains around 18.9 million entries for individuals born in 1920 or earlier who are not marked as deceased, though this does not automatically imply they are receiving benefits, the reports said.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, a federal judge issued a temporary order preventing the DOGE from accessing the SSA’s systems, which contain personal data on almost all Americans, besides immigrants living legally in the country.
US District Judge in Maryland Ellen Hollander ruled that the DOGE team must delete any personally identifiable data they may have. The decision follows a request from labour unions and retirees for an emergency order to restrict DOGE’s access to the agency and its extensive personal data records.
