#ssa data

[namesnums]

Top unisex names of the 1990s: where are they now?

The below two plots show the top 20 unisex/gender-neutral names of the 1990s, based on total usages from 1990-9. You can see the gender trend (F% share) post-1999, split into two plots for better visibility.

[gwydionmisha]

Originally, they announced they were shutting it because the judge told them they had to stop mining your private data. Stay noisy. It matters.

Ya Think?

So the argument is, if you complain because you need your social security money for rent, electricity, etc. and they stole it, you are a fraudster who doesn't deserve it, and if you are rich enough not to need it so you wait and don't complain you doesn't need it and shouldn't get it, therefore no one should get the social security payments they earned and need to survive.

Welcome to Catch 22.

see also, this is why people who have never been actually poor in their lives should be allowed into positions of power where they can do this kind of harm.

NOTE: I am completely fucked if my check doesn't come. They start assessing late fees for housing after seven days. The Bank fee for this auto-withdraw will likely overdraw my account. No gas, no electricity. My insurance will try to auto-withdraw mid-month causing bank fees to continue to grow exponentially. I am contractually required to have insurance on my apartment. I can't cancel it. I can't drive without gas or car insurance and I am disabled with very limited mobility. A bus pass costs about a months gas an requires lots of walking I can't do or someone else doing a lot of walking pushing my in a chair because my arms are fucked too.

No supplemental food or medical supplies or cleaning stuff or toilet paper or things the cats absolutely need. No credit card or other bill payments.

Not paying any bills for one month would dig me into a hole I could never get out of. With all the staff cuts and closures, how many months would it take to get reinstated? Will I automatically be labelled a fraudster and be denied reinstatement for the crime of being to poor to float all my bills for months?

I beg of you complain and/or protest now. People will die.

If you can't safely contact them in person, here are some other options:

Five Calls to your critters: https://5calls.org/

Here is one that will send your reps a fax: https://resist.bot/

[xtruss]

This Was The Average Social Security Benefit In 1984, And Here's What It Is Now

— By Katie Brockman | January 15, 2025

Getty Images

Key Points:

🔑 Social Security has been around for decades, but it's changed a lot in that time.

🔑 The average benefit in 1984 was a fraction of the average today, but that doesn't tell the whole story.

🔑 Even with annual raises, benefits are struggling to keep up with inflation.

Social Security is one of the most important social programs for older Americans, with roughly 90% of those age 65 and older collecting benefits, according to 2024 data from the Social Security Administration. But the cost of living has changed significantly over time, and today's benefits look much different than in 1984.

Social Security Benefits Have Been Steadily Increasing

The Social Security Administration introduced cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) in 1975 to help benefits maintain their buying power amid rising inflation. As a result, beneficiaries receive a small raise most years when the COLA takes effect.

In 1984, the average benefit was just $460.57 per month. It's steadily gone up over time, with today's retirees earning an average payment of $1,925.46 per month, as of November 2024.

Data Source: Social Security Administration.

However, while benefits are increasing over time, they're not necessarily worth more than they were decades ago. In fact, since 2010, Social Security has lost around 20% of its buying power, according to a 2024 report from nonprofit group The Senior Citizens League.

Even with annual COLAs, Social Security is struggling to keep pace with rising costs. If this trend continues, retirees may not be able to rely on their benefits as much in the future as they do now.

There may not be much you can do about Social Security's loss of buying power, but there's a good chance benefits won't go as far as they used to. If possible, leaning more heavily on other sources of income can reduce your dependence on Social Security and better protect your retirement.

Social Security Announces Big Changes For Retirees, Disability Benefits And VA Recipients In March 2025! In Addition To The Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA), The SSA Has Implemented Other Important Modifications

This Is Why Social Security Payments To Retirees And Disability Beneficiaries Have Been Suspended

US Government Confirms That The IRS Will Be Sending Out Tax Refunds Between March 10th And 16th

— Francisco Garrido | March 10, 2025

The Social Security Administration (SSA) has confirmed significant adjustments impacting retirees, disability beneficiaries, and veterans in March 2025. These changes aim to mitigate the effects of inflation and ensure financial stability for more than 70 million Americans who rely on these payments.

One of the most important updates is the Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA), which affects the amount of monthly checks. This modification responds to economic trends and rising costs of goods and services, ensuring that beneficiaries maintain their purchasing power. The SSA has scheduled the first payment of the month for March 12, 2025, meaning millions of recipients will receive their adjusted checks on that date.

How Does COLA Impact March Payments?

The Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) is one of the most anticipated updates each year, as it directly affects the amount Social Security beneficiaries receive. For 2025, the increase is 2.5%, based on the previous year’s economic data. This adjustment helps counter inflation and ensures that recipients can cover their essential needs without losing financial stability.

Key 🔑 Points About The 2025 Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA):

The adjustment is calculated based on 2024’s economic performance.

The first payment of March will be issued on March 12, 2025.

It benefits retirees, disabled individuals, and veterans receiving Social Security payments.

The increase applies automatically, requiring no additional action from beneficiaries.

Other Social Security Changes in 2025

In Addition To Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA), The Social Security Administration (SSA) Has Implemented Other Important Modifications:

Increase in Taxable Earnings Cap: Workers contributing to Social Security will see an increase in the amount of earnings subject to taxation. For 2025, the limit is $176,100, expanding the range of contributions and strengthening the Social Security system.

Changes in Full Retirement Age: Individuals born in certain years will experience an adjustment in their full retirement age. The current range of 66–67 years is gradually increasing to 68 or 70 years, depending on the year of birth. This measure aims to ensure the long-term sustainability of the program.

Higher Maximum Benefits: Retirees reaching full retirement age in 2025 will be eligible for an increased maximum benefit. The new monthly limit is expected to exceed $3,800, ensuring higher payouts for those who delay claiming Social Security.

Who Benefits From These Changes?

The Updates In March 2025 Primarily Impact Two Major Groups:

Retirees: Those who have ended their professional careers and depend on Social Security will see an increase in their payments due to COLA.

People with Disabilities: Beneficiaries with limited resources will receive increased financial support to cover their essential needs.

Survivors and Dependents: Family members who qualify for Social Security benefits due to a deceased or disabled worker may also experience payment adjustments.

The SSA continues working to maintain system stability and adapt to economic changes. It is essential for beneficiaries to stay informed about these modifications and plan their finances accordingly. The March 12, 2025, payment marks the first of the month and continues the adjustments applied since January.

[intelligentchristianlady]

A bunch of kids who probably know coding but are completely unfamiliar with bookkeeping or accounting... What could go wrong?

Better warn grandma she may not get her check.

[onlineitsolutions01]

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[globaltechlearn]

Power BI - Import vs Direct Query vs Live Connection

In this video we have covered Import , Direct query and live connection types, difference between them with features and advantages and also shared how to decide which connection type we should use while loading data in power bi

Hope you find this video useful .

Please like share and subscribe our channel and keep updated with all upcoming videos .

Thank You.

[mariacallous]

The so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is starting to put together a team to migrate the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) computer systems entirely off one of its oldest programming languages in a matter of months, potentially putting the integrity of the system—and the benefits on which tens of millions of Americans rely—at risk.

The project is being organized by Elon Musk lieutenant Steve Davis, multiple sources who were not given permission to talk to the media tell WIRED, and aims to migrate all SSA systems off COBOL, one of the first common business-oriented programming languages, and onto a more modern replacement like Java within a scheduled tight timeframe of a few months.

Under any circumstances, a migration of this size and scale would be a massive undertaking, experts tell WIRED, but the expedited deadline runs the risk of obstructing payments to the more than 65 million people in the US currently receiving Social Security benefits.

“Of course, one of the big risks is not underpayment or overpayment per se; [it’s also] not paying someone at all and not knowing about it. The invisible errors and omissions,” an SSA technologist tells WIRED.

The Social Security Administration did not immediately reply to WIRED’s request for comment.

SSA has been under increasing scrutiny from president Donald Trump’s administration. In February, Musk took aim at SSA, falsely claiming that the agency was rife with fraud. Specifically, Musk pointed to data he allegedly pulled from the system that showed 150-year-olds in the US were receiving benefits, something that isn’t actually happening. Over the last few weeks, following significant cuts to the agency by DOGE, SSA has suffered frequent website crashes and long wait times over the phone, The Washington Post reported this week.

This proposed migration isn’t the first time SSA has tried to move away from COBOL: In 2017, SSA announced a plan to receive hundreds of millions in funding to replace its core systems. The agency predicted that it would take around five years to modernize these systems. Because of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, the agency pivoted away from this work to focus on more public-facing projects.

Like many legacy government IT systems, SSA systems contain code written in COBOL, a programming language created in part in the 1950s by computing pioneer Grace Hopper. The Defense Department essentially pressured private industry to use COBOL soon after its creation, spurring widespread adoption and making it one of the most widely used languages for mainframes, or computer systems that process and store large amounts of data quickly, by the 1970s. (At least one DOD-related website praising Hopper's accomplishments is no longer active, likely following the Trump administration’s DEI purge of military acknowledgements.)

As recently as 2016, SSA’s infrastructure contained more than 60 million lines of code written in COBOL, with millions more written in other legacy coding languages, the agency’s Office of the Inspector General found. In fact, SSA’s core programmatic systems and architecture haven’t been “substantially” updated since the 1980s when the agency developed its own database system called MADAM, or the Master Data Access Method, which was written in COBOL and Assembler, according to SSA’s 2017 modernization plan.

SSA’s core “logic” is also written largely in COBOL. This is the code that issues social security numbers, manages payments, and even calculates the total amount beneficiaries should receive for different services, a former senior SSA technologist who worked in the office of the chief information officer says. Even minor changes could result in cascading failures across programs.

“If you weren't worried about a whole bunch of people not getting benefits or getting the wrong benefits, or getting the wrong entitlements, or having to wait ages, then sure go ahead,” says Dan Hon, principal of Very Little Gravitas, a technology strategy consultancy that helps government modernize services, about completing such a migration in a short timeframe.

It’s unclear when exactly the code migration would start. A recent document circulated amongst SSA staff laying out the agency’s priorities through May does not mention it, instead naming other priorities like terminating “non-essential contracts” and adopting artificial intelligence to “augment” administrative and technical writing.

Earlier this month, WIRED reported that at least 10 DOGE operatives were currently working within SSA, including a number of young and inexperienced engineers like Luke Farritor and Ethan Shaotran. At the time, sources told WIRED that the DOGE operatives would focus on how people identify themselves to access their benefits online.

Sources within SSA expect the project to begin in earnest once DOGE identifies and marks remaining beneficiaries as deceased and connecting disparate agency databases. In a Thursday morning court filing, an affidavit from SSA acting administrator Leland Dudek said that at least two DOGE operatives are currently working on a project formally called the “Are You Alive Project,” targeting what these operatives believe to be improper payments and fraud within the agency’s system by calling individual beneficiaries. The agency is currently battling for sweeping access to SSA’s systems in court to finish this work. (Again, 150-year-olds are not collecting social security benefits. That specific age was likely a quirk of COBOL. It doesn’t include a date type, so dates are often coded to a specific reference point—May 20, 1875, the date of an international standards-setting conference held in Paris, known as the Convention du Mètre.)

In order to migrate all COBOL code into a more modern language within a few months, DOGE would likely need to employ some form of generative artificial intelligence to help translate the millions of lines of code, sources tell WIRED. “DOGE thinks if they can say they got rid of all the COBOL in months, then their way is the right way, and we all just suck for not breaking shit,” says the SSA technologist.

DOGE would also need to develop tests to ensure the new system’s outputs match the previous one. It would be difficult to resolve all of the possible edge cases over the course of several years, let alone months, adds the SSA technologist.

“This is an environment that is held together with bail wire and duct tape,” the former senior SSA technologist working in the office of the chief information officer tells WIRED. “The leaders need to understand that they’re dealing with a house of cards or Jenga. If they start pulling pieces out, which they’ve already stated they’re doing, things can break.”

[saywhat-politics]

The acting commissioner of the Social Security Administration now says he is "not shutting down the agency" after earlier suggesting he might do so in the wake of a judge's ruling limiting the Department of Government of Efficiency's access to sensitive agency data.

Leland Dudek, the acting head of the agency, said in a statement Friday he received "clarifying guidance" about the judge's temporary restraining order related to DOGE activities.

"Therefore, I am not shutting down the agency," he said in the statement. "President Trump supports keeping Social Security offices open and getting the right check to the right person at the right time. SSA employees and their work will continue under the [temporary restraining order]."

[namesnums]

Top unisex names of the 1970s: where are they now?

The below two plots show the top 20 unisex/gender-neutral names of the 1970s, based on total usages from 1970-9. You can see the gender trend (F% share) post-1979, split into two plots for better visibility.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

The New Yorker :: @NewYorker [An advance look at Barry Blitt’s “Left to Their Own Devices,” the cover for next week’s issue.]

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

March 28, 2025

Heather Cox Richardson

Mar 29, 2025

“Another wipeout walloped Wall Street Friday,” Stan Choe of the Associated Press wrote today. The S&P 500 had one of its worst days in two years, dropping 2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 715 points, losing 1.7% of its value. The Nasdaq Composite fell 2.7%. On Tuesday, news dropped that the administration’s blanket firings and wildly shifting tariff policies have dropped consumer confidence to a low it has not hit since January 2021. Today’s stock market tumble started after the Commerce Department released data showing that consumer prices are rising faster than economists expected.

AIG chief international economist James Knightley said: “We are moving in the wrong direction and the concern is that tariffs threaten higher prices, which means the inflation prints are going to remain hot.” Business leaders like lower interest rates, which reduce borrowing costs and make it cheaper to finance business initiatives, but with rising inflation, the Federal Reserve will be less likely to cut interest rates.

Makena Kelly of Wired reported today that billionaire Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) is planning to move the computer system of the Social Security Administration (SSA) off the old programming language it uses, COBOL, to a new system. In 2017, the SSA estimated that such a migration would take about five years. DOGE is planning for the migration to take just a few months, using artificial intelligence to complete the change.

Experts have expressed concern. Dan Hon, who runs a technology strategy company that helps the government modernize its services, told Kelly: “If you weren’t worried about a whole bunch of people not getting benefits or getting the wrong benefits, or getting the wrong entitlements, or having to wait ages, then sure go ahead.” More than 65 million Americans currently receive Social Security benefits. Today Representative Don Beyer (D-VA) recorded himself calling the SSA and being told by a recording that the wait times were more than two hours and that he should call back. And then the system hung up on him.

Musk told the Fox News Channel today that he plans to step down from DOGE in May, apparently at the end of the 130-day cap for the “special government employee” designation that enables him to avoid financial disclosures. In February, White House staffers suggested Musk would stay despite the limit.

Today the State Department told Congress it is shutting down the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) altogether by July 1. Whatever agency functions the administration approves will move into the State Department. Founded by President John F. Kennedy and enjoying bipartisan support, USAID administers programs for global health, disaster relief, long-term economic development, education, environmental protection, and democracy. It is widely perceived to be a key element of U.S. “soft power.”

USAID was created by Congress, and its funds are appropriated by Congress. Congress and the courts have established that the executive branch—the branch of government overseen by the president—cannot kill an agency Congress has created and cannot withhold appropriations Congress has made. The authors of Project 2025 want to challenge that principle and consolidate government power in the hands of the president. It appears they have chosen USAID as the test case.

As Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. shatters science and health agencies, the nation’s top vaccine regulator, Dr. Peter Marks, submitted his resignation today after being given the choice to resign or be fired. Dan Diamond of the Washington Post noted that Marks has been at the Food and Drug Administration since 2012 and has been at the head of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research since 2016.

In his resignation letter, Diamond says, Marks expressed his deep concern over the ongoing measles outbreak in the Southwest—now more than 450 cases—and warned that the outbreak “reminds us of what happens when confidence in well-established science underlying public health and well-being is undermined.” Marks said that although he was willing to work with Kennedy on his plan to review vaccine safety, “it has become clear that truth and transparency are not desired by the Secretary, but rather he wishes subservient confirmation of his misinformation and lies.”

On Tuesday, news broke that Kennedy has tapped anti-vaccine activist David Geier to lead a study looking to link autism to vaccines, although that alleged link has been heavily studied and thoroughly debunked. Infectious disease journalist Helen Branswell notes that Geier does not have a medical degree and was disciplined in Maryland for practicing medicine without a license.

British investigative journalist Brian Deer, who has written about the hoax that vaccines cause autism, told Branswell: “If you want an independent source,… [you] wouldn’t go to somebody with no qualifications and a long track record of impropriety and incompetence.” But, he said, “[i]f you wanted to get in anybody off the street who would come up with the result that Kennedy would like to see, this would be your man.”

Tara Copp of the Associated Press reported today that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has done some targeted staffing, too. His younger brother Phil Hegseth is traveling to the Indo-Pacific with the secretary in his role at the Pentagon as a liaison and senior advisor to the Department of Homeland Security. Hegseth also employed his brother when he ran the nonprofit Concerned Veterans for America, where the younger Hegseth’s salary was $108,000 for his media work. Copp notes that a 1967 law “prohibits government officials from hiring, promoting or recommending relatives to any civilian position over which they exercise control.”

Hegseth and his colleagues are still in the hot seat for uploading the military’s attack plans against the Houthis in Yemen to Signal, an unsecure commercially available messaging app. Yesterday, Nancy A. Youssef, Alexander Ward, and Michael R. Gordon of the Wall Street Journal reported that National Security Advisor Mike Waltz identified a Houthi missile expert whose identity Israel had provided from a human source in Yemen, angering Israeli officials.

Americans, especially those with ties to the military, aren’t happy either. Military, the leading news website for service members, veterans, and their families, titled a story about the scandal “‘Different spanks for different ranks’: Hegseth’s Signal scandal would put regular troops in the brig.” Helene Cooper and Eric Schmitt of the New York Times reported that the story had “angered and bewildered” fighter pilots, who say “they can no longer be certain that the Pentagon is focused on their safety when they strap into cockpits.”

At a raucous town hall held today by Republican representative Victoria Spartz (R-IN), the crowd booed Spartz loudly when she said she would not call for the resignations of Waltz, Hegseth, and the rest of the people on the group chat.

All the mayhem created by the administration has created enough backlash that the White House appears concerned about upcoming special elections on April 1. One is for the seat in Florida’s District 6 that Waltz vacated when he became national security advisor. In 2024, Trump won that district by 30 points, and Republicans considered their candidate, state senator Randy Fine, whom Trump has strongly endorsed, to be such a shoo-in that he barely campaigned. His website features pictures of him with Trump but has only bullet points to explain his stand on issues.

Democrat Josh Weil, a middle-school math teacher who has outraised Fine by almost 10 to one, is polling within the margin of error for a victory in a contest where even a 10- to 15-point loss would show a dramatic collapse in Republican support. Weil has tied Fine to Musk’s unpopular DOGE and to the president, as well as to cuts to Social Security and Medicaid.

Trump is now personally campaigning for Fine and for the Republican candidate to fill the seat vacated by former representative Matt Gaetz in Florida District 1. There, Democratic candidate Gay Valimont is running against Republican Jimmy Patronis in a district that elected Trump with about 68% of the vote. Like Fine, Patronis is strongly backed by Trump and wants more cuts to the federal government; Gay is a former state leader for Moms Demand Action and focuses on healthcare and veterans’ services. She has criticized DOGE’s cuts to VA hospitals. Like Weil, she has significantly outraised her opponent.

Republicans are concerned enough about holding the seats that billionaire Elon Musk, who poured more than $291 million into the 2024 election to help Republicans, has begun to contribute to Republicans in Florida. On Tuesday he spent more than $10,000 apiece for texting services for the Florida candidates.

Musk has contributed far more than that—more than $20 million—to the April 1 election for a ten-year seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Trump loyalist Brad Schimel is running against circuit court judge Susan Crawford in a contest that has national significance. Wisconsin is evenly split between the parties, but when Republicans control the legislature and the supreme court, they suppress voting and heavily gerrymander the state in their favor. When liberals hold the majority on the court, they ease election rules and uphold fair maps. Currently, the state gerrymander gives Republicans 75% of the state’s seats in the U.S. House of Representatives although voting in 2024 was virtually dead even. The makeup of the court could well determine the congressional districts of Wisconsin through 2041, through the redistricting that will take place after the 2030 census.

Musk has told voters that if Crawford wins, “then the Democrats will attempt to redraw the districts and cause Wisconsin to lose two Republican seats.” Not only has Musk said he is going to Wisconsin to speak before the election, but also he is handing out checks to voters who sign a petition against “activist judges,” a suggestion that it would not be fair to unskew the Republican gerrymander. Last night, Musk advertised a contest that would award two voters a million dollars each, with the condition that the winners had to have already voted.

This morning, Wisconsin Democrats issued a press release noting that Musk had “committed a blatant felony,” directly violating the Wisconsin law that prohibits offering anyone anything worth more than $1 to get them to “vote or refrain from voting.” Wisconsin Democratic Party chair Ben Wikler said that if Schimel “does not immediately call on Musk to end this criminal activity, we can only assume he is complicit.”

Musk deleted the tweet and then, eliminating the language that said people had to have voted, posted that he would give the checks to spokespeople for his petition. Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul sued to stop Musk “from any further promotion of the million-dollar gifts” and “from making any payments to Wisconsin electors to vote.” “The Wisconsin Department of Justice is committed to ensuring that elections in Wisconsin are safe, secure, free, and fair,” Kaul said in a statement. “We are aware of the offer recently posted by Elon Musk to award a million dollars to two people at an event in Wisconsin this weekend. Based on our understanding of applicable Wisconsin law, we intend to take legal action today to seek a court order to stop this from happening.”

MeidasTouch reposted Musk’s offer to “personally hand over two checks for a million dollars each in appreciation for you taking the time to vote” and noted: “No matter what side of the aisle you are on, you should be appalled that a billionaire thinks he has the right to buy elections like this.” Former chair of the Ohio Democratic Party David Pepper posted: “Have some pride, America. We are so much better than this guy thinks we are.”

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[darkmaga-returns]

Acting Social Security Administration Commissioner Michelle King has reportedly stepped down from her post, after the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) requested access to recipient data, sources told CNN on Monday.

The two unidentified sources claimed that King refused to give the information to DOGE staffers at the SSA, and the White House has replaced her with new acting Commissioner Leland Dudek. 

King's exit comes as the new Trump administration moves to drastically reorganize and restructure the federal government. Thousands of probationary federal employees have been axed over the weekend, and others left voluntarily after accepting a federal buyout option.

White House spokesperson Harrison Fields said the agency will be led by a "career Social Security anti-fraud expert" until President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the Social Security Administration is confirmed.

“President Trump has nominated the highly qualified and talented Frank Bisignano to lead the Social Security Administration, and we expect him to be swiftly confirmed in the coming weeks," Fields said. "In the meantime, the agency will be led by a career Social Security anti-fraud expert as the acting commissioner.

[onlineitsolutions01]

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[collapsedsquid]

Acting Social Security Commissioner Leland Dudek said the temporary restraining order issued Thursday is so broad in blocking access to data by “DOGE affiliates” that it could apply to any Social Security employee. “My anti-fraud team would be DOGE affiliates. My IT staff would be DOGE affiliates,” Dudek said. “As it stands, I will follow it exactly and terminate access by all SSA employees to our IT systems.”

[drst]

Hey American neighbors,

Things are scary right now, I know. Courtney Milan made a good suggestion this morning on BlueSky. If you have an account with the Social Security Administration's website (or a federal ID login), you should go to SSA and download your current statement.

This is less about data security, and more about the very serious risk that Elon Musk's broccoli-headed muppets are fucking around with literal code in the Treasury system. If you know anything about computer systems, you know a 20 year old kid has absolutely no idea what the code the Treasury operates on is. There are reports the invaders are using AI to write code, ffs!

There is a very real, very serious risk that even if these idiots had good intentions, they could screw something up and delete data even if that wasn't what they were trying to do. And of course, their intentions are not good.

If you don't already have an account, you can request a login code but it can take several days for it to arrive in the mail. Still worth doing, because even though Elon Musk has stolen all of our data by now, you want a copy of it for your own security, just in case you need it as proof later.

[saywhat-politics]

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration’s move to classify thousands of living immigrants as dead and cancel their Social Security numbers is an escalation of the president’s crackdown on people who were legally allowed to live in the U.S. under programs instituted by his predecessor.

The move will make it much harder for affected immigrants to use banks or other basic services where Social Security numbers are required.

The White House says that “by removing the monetary incentive for illegal aliens to come and stay, we will encourage them to self-deport.”

However, the affected individuals newly added to the Social Security Administration’s “Death Master File” are in the country legally. Immigrant advocates say the administration is committing “digital murder.”

Here’s what we know about the administration’s plan to note some immigrants as dead in Social Security data:

Who is being affected?

A Trump administration official said the SSA moved roughly 6,300 immigrants’ names and Social Security numbers to a database that federal officials normally use to track the deceased after the Department of Homeland Security identified them as temporarily paroled aliens on the terrorist watch list or with FBI criminal records.

The administration has not provided evidence of this assertion.

The SSA maintains the most complete federal database of individuals who have died, known as the Death Master File. It contains more than 142 million records going back to 1899.

In its latest move, the White House has taken to referring to it as the “Ineligible Master File.”

[misfitwashere]

April 11, 2025

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

APR 12

READ IN APP

On April 4, Trump fired head of U.S. Cyber Command (CYBERCOM) and director of the National Security Agency (NSA) General Timothy Haugh, apparently on the recommendation of right-wing conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer, who is pitching her new opposition research firm to “vet” candidates for jobs in Trump’s administration.

Former secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall wrote in Newsweek yesterday that the position Haugh held is “one of the most sensitive and powerful jobs in America.” Kendall writes that NSA and CYBERCOM oversee the world’s most sophisticated tools and techniques to penetrate computer systems, monitor communications around the globe, and, if national security requires it, attack those systems. U.S. law drastically curtails how those tools can be used in the U.S. and against American citizens and businesses. Will a Trump loyalist follow those laws? Kendall writes: “Every American should view this development with alarm.”

Just after 2:00 a.m. eastern time this morning, the Senate confirmed Retired Air Force Lieutenant General John Dan Caine, who goes by the nickname “Razin,” for chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff by a vote of 60–25. U.S. law requires the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to have served as the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the chief of staff of the Army, the chief of naval operations, the chief of staff of the Air Force, the commandant of the Marine Corps, or the commander of a unified or specified combatant command.

Although Caine has 34 years of military experience, he did not serve in any of the required positions. The law provides that the president can waive the requirement if “the President determines such action is necessary in the national interest,” and he has apparently done so for Caine. The politicization of the U.S. military by filling it with Trump loyalists is now, as Kendall writes, “indisputable.”

The politicization of data is also indisputable. Billionaire Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) claims to be saving Americans money, but the Wall Street Journal reported today that effort has been largely a failure (despite today’s announcement of devastating cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that monitors our weather). But what DOGE is really doing is burrowing into Americans’ data.

The first people to be targeted by that data collection appear to be undocumented immigrants. Jason Koebler of 404 Media reported on Wednesday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been using a database that enables officials to search for people by filtering for “hundreds of different, highly specific categories,” including scars or tattoos, bankruptcy filings, Social Security number, hair color, and race. The system, called Investigative Case Management (ICM), was created by billionaire Peter Thiel’s software company Palantir, which in 2022 signed a $95.9 million contract with the government to develop ICM.

Three Trump officials told Sophia Cai of Politico that DOGE staffers embedded in agencies across the government are expanding government cooperation with immigration officials, using the information they’re gleaning from government databases to facilitate deportation. On Tuesday, DOGE software engineer Aram Moghaddassi sent the first 6,300 names of individuals whose temporary legal status had just been canceled. On the list, which Moghaddassi said covered those on “the terror watch list” or with “F.B.I. criminal records,” were eight minors, including one 13-year-old.

The Social Security Administration worked with the administration to get those people to “self-deport” by adding them to the agency's “death master file.” That file is supposed to track people whose death means they should no longer receive benefits. Adding to it people the administration wants to erase is “financial murder,” former SSA commissioner Martin O’Malley told Alexandra Berzon, Hamed Aleaziz, Nicholas Nehamas, Ryan Mac, and Tara Siegel Bernard of the New York Times. Those people will not be able to use credit cards or banks.

On Tuesday, Acting Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner Melanie Krause resigned after the IRS and the Department of Homeland Security agreed to share sensitive taxpayer data with immigration authorities. Undocumented immigrants pay billions in taxes, in part to demonstrate their commitment to citizenship, and the government has promised immigrants that it would not use that information for immigration enforcement. Until now, the IRS has protected sensitive taxpayer information.

Rene Marsh and Marshall Cohen of CNN note that “[m]ultiple senior career IRS officials refused to sign the data-sharing agreement with DHS,” which will enable HHS officials to ask the IRS for names and addresses of people they suspect are undocumented, “because of grave concerns about its legality.” Ultimately, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent signed the agreement with Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem.

Krause was only one of several senior career officials leaving the IRS, raising concerns among those staying that there is no longer a “defense against the potential unlawful use of taxpayer data by the Trump administration.”

Makena Kelly of Wired reported today that for the past three days, DOGE staffers have been working with representatives from Palantir and career engineers from the IRS in a giant “hackathon.” Their goal is to build a system that will be able to access all IRS records, including names, addresses, job data, and Social Security numbers, that can then be compared with data from other agencies.

But the administration’s attempt to automate deportation is riddled with errors. Last night the government sent threatening emails to U.S. citizens, green card holders, and even a Canadian (in Canada) terminating “your parole” and giving them seven days to leave the U.S. One Massachusetts-born immigration lawyer asked on social media: “Does anyone know if you can get Italian citizenship through great-grandparents?”

The government is not keen to correct its errors. On March 15 the government rendered to prison in El Salvador a legal U.S. resident, Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, whom the courts had ordered the U.S. not to send to El Salvador, where his life was in danger. The government has admitted that its arrest and rendition of Abrego Garcia happened because of “administrative error” but now claims—without evidence—that he is a member of the MS-13 gang and that his return to the U.S. would threaten the public. Abrego Garcia says he is not a gang member and notes that he has never been charged with a crime.

On April 4, U.S. District Court Judge Paula Xinis ordered the government to return Abrego Garcia to the U.S. no later than 11:59 pm on April 7. The administration appealed to the Supreme Court, which handed down a 9–0 decision yesterday, saying the government must “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s release, but asked the district court to clarify what it meant by “effectuate,” noting that it must give “due regard for the deference owed to the Executive Branch in the conduct of foreign affairs.”

The Supreme Court also ordered that “the Government should be prepared to share what it can concerning the steps it has taken and the prospect of further steps.”

Legal analyst Joyce White Vance explained what happened next. Judge Xinis ordered the government to file an update by 9:30 a.m. today explaining where Abrego Garcia is, what the government is doing to get him back, and what more it will do. She planned an in-person hearing at 1:00 p.m.

The administration made clear it did not intend to comply. It answered that the judge had not given them enough time to answer and suggested that it would delay over the Supreme Court’s instruction that Xinis must show deference to the president’s ability to conduct foreign affairs. Xinis gave the government until 11:30 and said she would still hold the hearing. The government submitted its filing at about 12:15, saying that Abrego Garcia is “in the custody of a foreign sovereign,” but at the 1:00 hearing, as Anna Bower of Lawfare reported, the lawyer representing the government, Drew Ensign, said he did not have information about where Abrego Garcia is and that the government had done nothing to get him back. Ensign said he might have answers by next Tuesday. Xinis says they will have to give an update tomorrow.

As Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor recently warned, if the administration can take noncitizens off the streets, render them to prison in another country, and then claim it is helpless to correct the error because the person is out of reach of U.S. jurisdiction, it could do the same thing to citizens. Indeed, both President Trump and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt have proposed that very thing.

Tonight, Trump signed a memorandum to the secretaries of defense, interior, agriculture, and homeland security calling for a “Military Mission for Sealing the Southern Border of the United States and Repelling Invasions.” The memorandum creates a military buffer zone along the border so that any migrant crossing would be trespassing on a U.S. military base. This would allow active-duty soldiers to hold migrants until ICE agents take them.

By April 20, the secretaries of defense and homeland security are supposed to report to the president whether they think he should invoke the 1807 Insurrection Act to enable him to use the military to aid in mass deportations.

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