Social Security Administration Denies Claims of Planned Death Classification

The Social Security Administration (SSA) refuted accusations on Friday that it intended to label 2.7 million individuals as deceased. These allegations emerged amid efforts to cut off immigrants from financial and government services during the Trump administration. The claims came from former SSA employee Jeremiah Schofield and were highlighted by Democratic Senators Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. Their concerns focused on potential violations of federal privacy rules and were directed at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which was accused of pressuring the SSA to declare living people as deceased.

The senators, in a June 4 letter to SSA Commissioner Frank J. Bisignano, stated, “The whistleblower’s disclosure appears to reveal a carefully planned, willful falsification of federal government records in order to weaponize the SSA as a tool for immigration enforcement.” An SSA official assured Newsweek that the agency had not added 2.7 million names to the Death Master File (DMF), upholding its commitment to maintaining the accuracy and integrity of personal records.

What Is the Death Master File?

The SSA’s DMF is a federal database used to track deceased individuals, playing a crucial role for government agencies and private sector entities in verifying identity and preventing fraud. According to the whistleblower, the DMF contains essential identifying information, such as Social Security numbers, names, dates of birth and death, and the last known residence of individuals. When a person is marked as deceased in the SSA’s Numident system, this information is automatically transmitted to the DMF. The consequences of being mistakenly listed as dead are significant: “Marking a live individual as deceased within these systems has dire real-life consequences,” stated Schofield. “The individual’s bank account and credit cards become frozen immediately. Any benefits for which they are eligible, such as Social Security or other public benefits, cease immediately. The individual cannot legally work.”

Where Did the Claims Originate?

The claims date back to a June 3 whistleblower disclosure submitted to Congress by Schofield, a former senior SSA official with over 25 years of experience. He described internal discussions within the SSA in early 2025 involving members of DOGE, a Trump administration initiative linked to Elon Musk. DOGE personnel allegedly pressured SSA officials to uncover large-scale fraud but instead focused on manipulating databases by adding erroneous death dates to records.

The most alarming allegation involves two distinctive efforts:

• An April 2025 directive to mark over 6,000 individuals as deceased based on a list from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), though no evidence supported their deaths.
• A broader plan to label as many as 2.7 million people as deceased, which Schofield and others refused to execute upon discovering that most sampled individuals were alive and lawful U.S. residents.

The disclosure also details a claimed conversation in which a DHS-linked official suggested that marking individuals as deceased aimed to force them to “self-deport” or appear at SSA offices where they could face detention. Schofield mentioned a meeting with DOGE staff, including Jon Koval, who allegedly asked the SSA to implement the plan. “When I left the room, I felt sickened by Mr. Koval’s confirmation that the United States government was attempting to falsify Social Security data in this improper and illegal manner for the purpose of deporting millions of people,” Schofield wrote.

Despite these disturbing directives, SSA staff allegedly resisted, choosing not to proceed with marking millions as deceased without proof. They sought legal advice which confirmed the action would be unlawful, citing violations of federal laws, including the Privacy Act. Though objections were raised, one SSA office still moved forward in April 2025, marking over 6,000 people as deceased. This action led to individuals realizing their false status and visiting field offices to correct the error using existing procedures.

For the larger list of 2.7 million, the SSA allegedly considered an alternative “special indicator” flag to prevent the same financial impacts. It remains disputed whether this broader plan was enacted. As of Schofield’s departure in October 2025, the 2.7 million names had not been added to the DMF. The SSA assured Newsweek that it had not pursued this plan.

Outside of SSA, Senators Warren and Blumenthal, critics of DOGE, have sought answers from SSA leadership about alleged data manipulation. They questioned whether DOGE’s actions violated a federal court order limiting access to sensitive records. The senators requested SSA to provide information on the alleged plan by June 18, including details about DOGE personnel’s database access.

Though no direct budgetary impacts on Social Security’s finances were detailed, adding large numbers of mistaken entries into the DMF posed risks to individuals and federal data integrity. Incorrect death records could undermine reliability within public and private sectors and expose the government to legal liabilities under the Privacy Act.

Beyond affecting SSA, Schofield alleged that DOGE exploited SSA data in other agencies, misusing it to hinder immigrants from receiving benefits like SNAP and Medicare. He expressed concerns that their actions disrupted service to American citizens and legal SSN holders, impacting the fair administration of benefits.