The Department of Government Efficiency's assertion of 150-year-olds receiving Social Security benefits is likely rooted in data errors from the SSA's COBOL-based systems. These systems use a reference date of May 20, 1875, resulting in erroneous ages when birth dates are missing. Furthermore, the SSA has policies in place since 2015 to halt payments after the age of 115, questioning the validity of these claims. This situation raises concerns about data interpretation and the responsibilities of prominent figures like Musk in understanding such information.
Because COBOL does not have a date type, some implementations rely instead on a system whereby all dates are coded to a reference point.
These systems default to the reference point when a birth date is missing or incomplete, meaning all of those entries in 2025 would show an age of 150.
Musk could also have simply looked up the SSA's own website, which explains that since September 2015 the agency has automatically stopped benefit payments when anyone reaches the age of 115.
Is it feigned ignorance? It's hard to believe that someone with Musk's status would take data at face value.
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