A key Social Security program mandated by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was ordered shut down on Friday for not only being "inefficient" but also creating chaos for those applying for their benefits and those who process claims.
According to a report from the Washington Post, officials from Elon Musk's creation designed to root out waste had demanded "a security check, developed at DOGE’s request, that was meant to root out allegedly fraudulent claims filed over the phone," which, in turn, was a bust.
According to two employees, "the measure — which involved placing a three-day hold on all phone claims as other staffers checked into the caller’s background — had only identified a couple of potential fraud cases while causing significant delays in claims processing."
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The report notes that was not the only problem that needed correcting.
"Many of the major changes DOGE pushed at Social Security have been abandoned or are being reversed after proving ineffective, while others are yielding unintended consequences and badly damaging customer service and satisfaction," the Post reported with one former official admitting she is not surprised.
Kathleen Romig had already pointed out that there were safeguards in place before DOGE's meddling and explained, "So much of this is self-inflicted wounds."
Another former high-ranking official agreed, telling the Post, "People lacked the fortitude to tell DOGE there was no fraud because they were afraid to lose their jobs. They knew there was no fraud.”
The report added, "Operations staff taking calls from seniors normally process the claims as they happen, finishing up while still on the phone. Instead, under the new system, staff had to take down callers’ information before transferring claims to another part of the agency, where they could be reviewed for signs of fraud. After waiting three days, staff were supposed to pick back up their unfinished claims. It never really worked. Mostly, what it accomplished was annoying field staff and delaying claims processing, employees said."
Claimed one staffer, "We are already overwhelmed. It added a needless task to our plate, and claims were starting to get lost."
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