--- title: "Elon Musk Has Reportedly Cut Off a Bunch of People From Their Rightful Social Security" description: "Elon Musk's DOGE is cutting off people from their Social Security benefits by writing them off as dead, even though they're alive." date: "2025-04-25" modified: "2025-04-25" authors: - name: "Frank Landymore" job_title: "Contributing Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/flandymore" url: "https://futurism.com/elon-cut-off-social-security" categories: - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "doge" - "elon musk" - "social security" - "trump" --- # Elon Musk Has Reportedly Cut Off a Bunch of People From Their Rightful Social Security ![Elon Musk's DOGE is cutting off people from their Social Security benefits by writing them off as dead, even though they're alive.]() *WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 9: White House Senior Advisor Elon Musk walks to the White House after landing in Marine One on the South Lawn with U.S. President Donald Trump (not pictured) on March 9, 2025 in Washington, DC. Trump was returning to the White House after spending the weekend at Mar-a-Lago, his private club in Florida. (Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images) \Image: Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images\* Elon Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency is cutting off Americans from the Social Security benefits they're supposed to be receiving by writing them off as dead — even though they're very much among the living, the [*Daily Beast* reports](). "We have people who did not receive benefits come in every day with their ID and say, 'I'm not dead, I'm alive!" Rennie Glasgow, a claims technical analyst and fifteen-year veteran of the Social Security Administration who works at the agency's office in Schenectady, New York, told the *Beast.* These clerical zombies are the collateral damage of DOGE's meddling with the SSA's "Death Master File," a comprehensive list of deceased individuals who should no longer receive benefits. Musk, who has called Social Security the "biggest ponzi scheme of all time" and has spread [outrageous claims]() of mass benefits fraud, ordered millions of people who were "probably" dead to be moved to the list, the [*Washington Post* reported](), in order to make it more accurate. "\[DOGE staffers\] went into the system and they killed off people," Glasgow told the *Beast*. "About four million people, they marked them as dead. But they're not sure if those people were supposed to be marked as dead, so they're sending us an email saying, 'If these people come into the office with their identification, you can reinstate them.'" As with other federal agencies, DOGE has [swept through the SSA like a tornado](). Under its recommendations, the SSA will lay off 7,000 employees, reducing its workforce to 50,000. Dozens of its offices across the country have either [already been closed or will be](). Its website [constantly crashes](), while its [phone helplines are being shut down](). Glasgow's office is reeling from the brutal changes, losing eight employees in a location that now only has 30, with only four of its 18 service windows able to stay open. For two hours every day, its computer system goes dark. In what is one of its most flagrant intrusions into the SSA's operations, the Trump administration is also attempting to force over 6,000 immigrants to "self-deport" by [placing them in the Death Master File](). Once so interred, a person on this list is cut off from accessing bank accounts and credit cards in the US — a veritable financial death sentence. "When they mark someone dead on the Social Security record, it stops their life," Glasgow told the *Beast*. "It stops their car payments, it stops their credit, it stops their ability to do anything. Their identification gets flagged. And most times those things have to go to the payment center." Even now, Social Security remains [overwhelmingly popular]() with Americans across virtually all demographics. But Glasgow suspects that Musk and DOGE are deliberately sabotaging the agency so that the public will one day turn on it. **More on DOGE:** *[Elon Musk's DOGE Has Been a Dismal Failure]()* ## Author At Futurism, my work has often centered on bringing a sense of clarity and insight to complex topics ranging from the regulation of emerging technologies to the esoteric ideologies of Silicon Valley executives, while striving not to lose the poetic sense of awe inspired by often-obscure fields like astrophysics and quantum computing. I broke the story of CNET using AI to produce articles that turned out to be riddled with factual errors and plagiarism — a dam-breaking inflection point, as I've reported, that's inspired copycats and endless discourse while beguiling stakeholders ranging from tech giants to purveyors of spam around the web. My work at Futurism has been cited by publications including CBS News, the Los Angeles Times, Vice, Gizmodo, Engadget, the Verge, and Vanity Fair. I grew up in locales ranging from India to China, and now live in the exotic suburbs of Virginia. In my free time, I'm an avid reader of weird sci-fi literature, an aficionado of East Asian cinema, and, regrettably, a relapsed gamer. Allegedly, I’m working on a debut novel, currently untitled. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()