Gracias, Indeed

      From the New York Times:

A private equity investor who is one of Elon Musk’s closest confidants has taken a new role in the Social Security Administration, a development that could be politically combustible given the program’s popularity with voters and Mr. Musk’s apparent intent to make major changes at the agency.

The investor, Antonio Gracias, who has served on the boards of Mr. Musk’s businesses Tesla and SpaceX, has started a job at the administration as part of the Musk-led cost-cutting effort known as the Department of Government Efficiency, according to documents seen by The New York Times and two people informed about his appointment.

Of the more than 50 people who have joined Mr. Musk in Washington, almost none have as extensive a history with him as Mr. Gracias. The men met around two decades ago and in that time, Mr. Gracias has become one of Mr. Musk’s most trusted advisers. ...

The involvement of such a close ally with the Social Security Administration suggests that Mr. Musk has made overhauling the agency a priority; in recent weeks, the tech billionaire has regularly talked about supposed fraud inside the system. Two weeks ago, he referred to Social Security as “the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time,” and this week he claimed that fraud in the program and other major entitlement spending was “the big one to eliminate.” ...

    Trying to privatize Social Security was such a big success for George W. Bush, why shouldn't Trump go for it?

Who Are Those DOGE Operatives At Social Security?

      Wired reports on those 10 DOGE operatives embedded at Social Security. There’s nothing reassuring about the report.

     People whose educational backgrounds have been in STEM are essential to the economy but, in general, they have no business in management. Their backgrounds are just too limited. Sure, there are exceptions but previous few when you’re talking about people as young as those assigned to Social Security.

They May Seem Like Traitors But They’re Just Idiots

      From Government Executive:

A proposal to ban payments to people without Social Security numbers is circulating at the Social Security Administration, according to two employees. If implemented, the move could affect thousands of beneficiaries receiving retirement, disability and low-income benefits from the agency.  

An SSA memo obtained by Government Executive notes that the agency currently can, at times, make someone a representative payee even if they don’t have an SSN. The payee, Romig noted, is not required to be eligible for benefits themselves.F 

The new policy proposal would bar any payments to payees without SSNs, of which there are currently more than 170,000, according to the document. The Social Security Administration did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.   

One large group that could be affected by the proposed change would be children receiving Supplemental Security Income or disability benefits whose parents don’t have an SSN. Others impacted could include widows and other survivors of dead Americans living overseas.  …

The agency needs to confirm that it has the authority to make this change, the memo notes. If SSA moves forward, it would need to “work” the thousands of cases, contacting the payees to submit a SSN or change the payee altogether to someone that has a number. 

That task could be arduous, as finding payees is already so difficult that at times the agency turns to institutional payees like child welfare agencies, said Romig. SSA staff also have to assess the suitability of payees.  …

[Former Commissioner] Astrue, discussing the increased risk of a cybersecurity failure in light of DOGE operatives’ access to sensitive SSA databases, urged the Senate Finance Committee to move swiftly on the nomination of Frank Bisignano to lead the agency, noting “he can’t possibly be any worse” than Dudek, who was being investigated for improperly sharing information with DOGE when he was put in his current role. 

“I don’t attribute being a traitor to these people—I am attributing to them being idiots and not knowing what they’re doing,” he said. …

10,000 Social Security Employees To Leave?

      From CBS News:

Barbarians At The Gates

      From the National Committee to Preserve Social Security & Medicare:

Laura Haltzel is the first former Social Security Administration (SSA) official who was present for the Trump administration’s takeover of the agency to speak out publicly in an on the record interview. In her first interview since leaving SSA, Haltzel told Entitled to Know that Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) “traumatized” SSA employees — and created “gross inefficiencies” in the system. Haltzel resigned her post as Associate Commissioner Office of Research, Evaluation and Statistics on February 28, accepting an early retirement offer that the administration extended to all SSA employees.

Haltzel describes an atmosphere of chaos and fear at SSA headquarters, based on her own experience and communications with colleagues in other departments. (Haltzel was based at the agency’s DC office while the headquarters is in Baltimore.)  She had worked at SSA for a cumulative 15 years when she exited her job.

     And there’s much, much more. Give it a read.

No Government Shutdown

      There won’t be a government shutdown because Senate Democrats are craven cowards.

We’re In Crisis

      Read this thread on the National Academy of Social Insurance panel on the emergency at Social Security. Just read it.

Field Office Loses 7 Of 26 Employees To DOGE Buyouts

      Social Security field office loses 7 of its 26 employees to DOGE buyouts. You think service won’t suffer?