Senators Warn DOGE’s Social Security Administration Work Could Break Benefits

Democratic senators person concerns that nan alleged Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) could break nan Social Security Administration’s (SSA) tech infrastructure.

In a caller missive addressed to SSA commissioner Frank Bisignano, senators Elizabeth Warren and Ron Wyden opportunity that DOGE’s plans to “hastily upgrade” SSA IT systems could disrupt nan transportation of benefits aliases consequence successful wide information losses. The informing comes after WIRED reported successful March that DOGE officials were readying to rebuild SSA’s codification guidelines successful a matter of months. The move, primitively spearheaded by Steve Davis, 1 of Elon Musk’s cardinal lieutenants and a leader astatine DOGE, could consequence successful full strategy collapse, experts told WIRED astatine nan time.

“Put simply, DOGE has already constricted entree to benefits by damaging SSA’s technological infrastructure—and this rushed IT modernization scheme tin only exacerbate those problems,” nan senators wrote successful their letter.

Since DOGE infiltrated SSA earlier this year, nan agency’s website has collapsed galore times, making it difficult for beneficiaries to entree their accounts. The outages could past a fewer minutes to astir a day, the Washington Post reported successful April. SSA officials person antecedently projected plans to trim its workforce by 12 percent, aliases astir 7,000 jobs. In an question and reply pinch nan Wall Street Journal earlier this week, Bisignano described plans to revamp SSA into a “digital first” agency, relying heavy connected artificial intelligence.

“DOGE staffers hacking distant Social Security’s backend tech pinch nary safeguards is simply a look for disaster, not a superior update of nan agency’s integer infrastructure,” Warren tells WIRED. “This unreserved occupation risks people’s backstage data, creates information gaps, and could consequence successful catastrophic cuts to each benefits. If this DOGE research fails, it’s nan millions of Americans who trust connected Social Security each period who will consciousness nan pain.”

The senators called nan “ultimate goal” to upgrade IT “a worthy one,” but called connected officials to prosecute it pinch nan “appropriate testing and safeguards.” For years, SSA has tried to upgrade its information systems that are built connected COBOL, a bequest coding connection fewer engineers are trained to use. But these modernization plans are often expected to return years, not a fewer months for illustration DOGE has planned.

In nan letter, nan senators inquire Bisignano to item DOGE’s domiciled successful upgrading SSA’s tech and immoderate changes made to datasets and systems. They besides inquire for immoderate accusation related to imaginable hacks aliases information leaks that whitethorn person occurred arsenic a consequence of this modernization work. The senators asked Bisignano to respond by June 17.

“This is an situation that is held together pinch bail ligament and duct tape,” a erstwhile elder SSA technologist moving successful nan agency of nan main accusation serviceman told WIRED successful March. “The leaders request to understand that they’re dealing pinch a location of cards aliases Jenga. If they commencement pulling pieces out, which they’ve already stated they’re doing, things tin break.”