Some threads on Reddit r/cobol have been interesting about how doge wants to rewrite the SSA codebase. This comment nails it. Distraction and dysfunction to make people lose faith in the gov and especially Social Security which is an extremely successful program
30/ There is a viral story going around about possible disruptions of the #SSI payment system for April's payments, the SSA portal not showing archive payments or showing people are not getting SSI at all by Talking Points Memo.
After I read the article, I sent out an email to a few Representative Payees I know, who manage hundreds SSA accounts and payments for others, and none have seen the issues John Marshall of TPM is talking about.
My initial thought is, these people logged in when the SSA portal was shutting down for the night and the data disappeared (from their view) before they got a notification that |My #SSA.Gov" portal was down for the night
This article came out at 1:10am, a time when SSA portal was shut down, and a just over 1 hour after banks usually start transferring funds into accounts for SSI. For what it is worth, the treasury sends the banks SSI and SSA payments several days before the due date. Some release it early, as soon as they get it, some make people wait until the last possible moment, the start of banking hours the day of. The article: 
Possible New Disruption of SSI (Social Security) Payments https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/possible-disruption-of-ssi-and-ssdi-payments
You can log into your SSA account during these hours, and it has been like this for many, many years, under both R and D admin control:
Monday-Friday 4:15 a.m. - 1:00 a.m.
Saturday 5:00 a.m. - 11:00 p.m.
Sunday 8:00 a.m. - 11:30 p.m.
Federal Holidays Same hours as the day the holiday occurs.
With that said, do expect the unexpected with SSA. It is being hit with a wrecking ball and check your SSA account periodically. #SocialSecuirty #DOGE
Image: My view of SSA.Govshowing both my personal account and option to log in as a SSA benefit representative. (Edit was to clean this post up.)
#DOGE also announced drastic cuts at depts that provide critical #SocialServices including #VeteransAffairs [#VA], which administers #healthcare for #veterans, & the #SocialSecurity Administration, which sends out checks to #retired, #disabled & #widowed Americans [money Americans put into the #SSA out of their own paychecks].
#OPM …has laid off >200 of its own employees & allowed >400 to *opt in* to *voluntary* exit programs since #Trump took office…
Anyone else wrestling with SSA online accounts this weekend? My husband’s was easy, mine is a struggle. I deleted login.gov because I lost my auth. app. Now the connection to SSA is messed up. I’m not retiring, just want to be connected online. #SSA
Anybody buying this communique from #SSA as anything other than reverse engineering for CYA purposes?
I'm not.
https://www.ssa.gov/news/press/releases/2025/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery#2025-03-27-a
I just tried to login to the SSA.gov through Login.gov. New procedure for #SSA you have to go through a multi-step identity verification and it requires your phone and taking pictures of your state driver's license or state non-driver ID, no other type of government ID is allowed so if you don't have one of those, you don't get into your SSA account. The last time Login.gov made me verify myself was in August. For some reason this time the browser on my phone (ffx) would not take a picture. I checked the app permissions and rebooted the phone. Still would not take a picture so I really wonder if there's something about the Login.gov page itself that is malfunctioning. The other option is to enter all your details and then take your ID to a post office along with a barcode that they issue you (which I had to take a picture of off the f*ing computer screen). Imagine someone who is 80 years old trying to fuck with this shit. Just imagine it. Jesus christ. #fascism #DOGE #SocialSecurity
On the weekly video call with my US-based elderly family members I mentioned to them that they all should have copies of their #SocialSecurity statements and benefits verification letters saved and printed out. They all were shocked by this. And these are people who are following the news and are concerned about what's happening.
None of them had used the #SSA website before. I put together a little guide for them which amounts to 25 steps (assuming they already have a login dot gov account).
I asked #Grok: "What are the chances of success for Elon Musk's / DOGE's plan of rewriting (in two month's time) the SSA's COBOL codebase using AI?"
"[…] the chances of success […] are extremely low, likely in the single-digit percentage range (e.g., 5-10% at best).
This estimate assumes DOGE has exceptional resources and AI capabilities beyond what’s publicly known […] The stakes are high, and the margin for error is razor-thin."
https://x.com/i/grok/share/n9svocmPv28oPUXlCbbJruxTS
#DOGE plans to rebuild #SSA's antiquated #COBOL code base in months instead of the years it'd take to do it safely, risking benefits & system collapse.
But, hey, when did Musk/Trump/DOGE ever give a crap about doing anything safely? Or right?
https://www.wired.com/story/doge-rebuild-social-security-administration-cobol-benefits/
Elon Musk has appointed a team of technologists from #DOGE to "rewrite the code that runs the #SSA in months." This codebase has over 60 million lines of #COBOL and handles record keeping for all American workers and #payments for all Social Security recipients. DOGE aims to migrate all SSA systems off COBOL ... and onto a more modern replacement like #Java within a scheduled tight timeframe of a few months. After all, what could possibly go wrong? https://www.wired.com/story/doge-rebuild-social-security-administration-cobol-benefits/
Who remember Y2K nightmare?
This will dwarf the horror and cost of the system changes for Americans.
Are people really that stupid to think that such system can be changed by a bunch of 20 something arrogant morons?
29/ Under the new #SocialSecuirty #SSA rule above, and the office closures and staff cuts mentioned in this thread above, if you don't have an SSA.Gov account before April 14th, 2025 and can use it, here is what Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass) on Thursday had to say
(FYI, I am rural in #Ohio. My #SSA office was already 1 hour away. #DOGE and Musk closed it. My office is now over 2 hours away.)
"Say a 66-year-old man qualifies for Social Security. Say he calls the helpline to apply, but he's told about a new DOGE rule, so he has to go online or in person. He can't drive. He has trouble with the website, [or not permitted to use it until he does an in person visit to verify his ID because he didn't have a SSA.GOV account prior to the rule being implemented] so he waits until his niece can get a day off to take him to the local office, but DOGE closed that office, so they have to drive two hours to get to the next closest office. When they get there, there are only two people staffing a 50-person line, so he doesn't even make it to the front of the line before the office closes and he has to come back. Let's assume it takes him three months to straighten this out, and he misses a total of $5,000 in benefits checks, which, by law, he will never get back. This scenario is a backdoor way Musk and Trump could cut Social Security." #USPol
Musk Berated for 'Absurd' Social Security Fraud Lies | Common Dreams
DOGE is putting together a team to migrate the Social Security Administration’s computer systems entirely off one of the 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. Read more at @WIRED (subscription may be required). #SocialSecurity #DOGE #ElonMusk #SSA #COBOL #Tech #Technology https://flip.it/98qM1j
Anybody that suggests a decades old COBOL codebase be replaced with Java is someone you don’t have to take seriously anymore.
28/ BREAKING, Social Security again pushed back its timeline for In-person identity proofing for people unable to use their personal my Social Security account for certain services will be effective April 14, 2025.
The Trump - DOGE created chaos has received great pushback and is constantly changing, making seniors and the disabled nervous.
Under the updated policy beginning April 14, 2025, individuals applying for Social Security #Disability Insurance (SSDI), #Medicare, or Supplemental Security Income ( #SSI ) who cannot use a personal my Social Security account can complete their claim entirely over the telephone without the need to come into an office.
Individuals who cannot use their personal my Social Security account to apply for benefits will only need to prove their identity at a Social Security office if applying for Retirement, Survivors, or Auxiliary (Spouse or Child) benefits
People who do not already have a my Social Security account can create one at www.ssa.gov/myaccount/. It's beneficial whether you receive benefits or not.
27/ If you don't already have a SSA.Gov account, you have until March 31st to sign up and get one or else you will have to go into a local #SocialSecurity office to prove your identify.
Even if you don't get benefits, you can see your standing and account planner, which tells you all your earnings per year, what your estimated retirement and disability payments will be, etc.
Don't be a victim to #DOGE, Trump and #Musk. Sign up for SSA.Gov today, and Login.gov. Do note, for years it closed down every evening and you will get a message that it is closed. #SSA
Time the online service is available:
Monday-Friday 4:15 a.m. - 1:00 a.m.
Saturday 5:00 a.m. - 11:00 p.m.
Sunday 8:00 a.m. - 11:30 p.m.
Federal Holidays Same hours as the day the holiday occurs.
Social Security Administration backtracks on some ID requirements after public & Congressional backlash
Keep resisting, folks. It's working & it's the only thing that is.
How the Social Security Admn is dodging a federal court order
https://www.muskwatch.com/p/how-the-social-security-administration
"The #Trump admn has installed a #DOGE operative as the new Chief Information Officer (CIO) of the #SocialSecurity Admn (SSA) in an apparent effort to evade a federal court order blocking DOGE affiliates from accessing databases containing the sensitive personal #information of millions of #Americans."
Musk Slashes Social Security as Republicans Debate What a “Cut” Is
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/musk-slashes-social-security-as-republicans
" DonaldTrump has long insisted that he would not cut #SocialSecurity benefits... which has forced the [GOP] to argue that the cuts #DOGE is making to the programs aren’t actually cuts, because they aren’t reducing the size of the Social Security checks... They’re just affecting many other things related to the delivery of those checks."
