Social Security says it corrected nearly 50 million SSN records
Social Security has corrected nearly 50 million records since President Donald Trump took office, according to Fox Business, which cited the agency. The agency's release calls it its most comprehensive cleanup in 91 years. The release does not say how many of the fixes involved fraud.
The Social Security Administration says it has corrected nearly 15% of all active Social Security numbers, according to Fox Business and an agency release. Citing the agency, Fox Business reported that this comes to nearly 50 million records out of 330 million. SSA called it the most comprehensive cleanup of the records in its 91-year history.
SSA said the work has gone on since Trump took office. It added 17 million dates of death to records that lacked them. For that, it used its own systems and State Department data. It also updated about 25 million records that had been missing citizenship information. That data came from a Homeland Security system called SAVE. SSA said it is still correcting another 8.5 million records with inaccurate citizenship status.
The agency also said it has added stronger internal controls. They are meant to stop errors from manual data entry.
"The Social Security Number database is our country's books and records," Commissioner Frank Bisignano said in the release. "Accurate SSN records prevent fraud across federal programs and support the proper administration of benefits."
SSA describes the cleanup as part of an ongoing fight against fraud, Fox Business reported. Federal agencies and states use SSA records to check identities and stop improper payments, the agency said. The release does not say how many of the corrections involved fraud.
The Fox Business report does not include reaction from critics or advocacy groups.
The Trump administration has pressed a "war on fraud" across the federal government, Fox Business reported. Trump set up a Task Force to Eliminate Fraud in March, Fox Business reported. Vice President JD Vance leads it. Earlier this year, the Treasury Department said it used Social Security death records to stop payments to dead people. Those payments came to about $99 million, Fox Business reported.
What we know: SSA says it has corrected nearly 15% of active Social Security numbers, including 17 million missing death dates and about 25 million missing citizenship records.
What we don't: How many of the corrections involved fraud.
Where outlets agree The SSA release and Fox Business both state that the agency has corrected nearly 15% of active Social Security numbers, including 17 million missing death dates and about 25 million records missing citizenship information.
Where they differ Fox Business puts the corrections at nearly 50 million records out of 330 million, while the SSA release gives only a share, nearly 15% of active numbers, and does not state a total count.