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US Politics

No, 150-Year-Olds Aren't Collecting Social Security Benefits

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Elon Musk has repeatedly claimed that his Department of Government Efficiency project uncovered massive government fraud when it alleged that 150-year-olds were claiming Social Security benefits.

But experts quickly pointed out that this is very likely just a quirk of the decades-old coding language that underpins the government payment systems.

No evidence was produced to back up this claim, but it was picked up by right-wing commentators online, as well as pro-Trump media outlets.

The page was briefly populated on Saturday before being taken down; at the time of publication on Monday , no receipts were posted. “I do worry about bait-and-switch and further transfers of wealth and even more debt financing into the hands of even fewer, driven and riven by power and abject self-interest, not public interest,” Drake believes. “Democracy is in real danger. ”Neither DOGE nor the White House responded to requests for comment about Musk ’s claims..