Whistleblower shares Trump admin plan to erase 2.7M living people from Social Security
Executive Director of the Task Force Scott Brady, U.S. Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald, Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission Andrew Ferguson, and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller listen as U.S. Vice President JD Vance participates in a roundtable on anti-fraud initiatives with Republican state attorneys general in the Indian Treaty Room of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building (EEOB) on the White House campus, in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 26, 2026. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
Jeremiah Schofield, a 25-year Social Security Administration veteran, disclosed that the Trump administration planned to classify 2.7 million living people — including U.S. citizens, legal permanent residents, and teenagers — as dead using the agency's Death Master File.
The database, used by banks and government agencies to verify living status, would effectively erase targets from the financial system, cutting off access to wages, bank accounts, credit, housing, and insurance.
Schofield refused to implement the plan after agency lawyers warned it violated federal law and then filed a 49-page whistleblower disclosure with Senate committees.
After examining a sample of 25 people — all confirmed alive — Schofield learned from Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, official Jon Koval that the goal was forcing self-deportation or arrest when people sought help at Social Security offices.
The administration had already added 6,100 immigrants to the Death Master File.
When officials questioned the terminology, the agency simply renamed it to "ineligible."
Schofield remained silent for months due to retaliation fears before coming forward.
"I don't think that it's right that they do this to us," he said.
"I think that we need to stand up for each other in this time."
