Elon Musk's DOGE to Overhaul Social Security Systems, Raising Alarm Over Risks

The Department of Government Efficiency plans to modernize the SSA's COBOL-based systems within months, sparking warnings of potential system failures and missed payments for millions of Americans.

• DOGE, led by Elon Musk, is preparing to migrate the Social Security Administration's decades-old COBOL systems to a modern programming language like Java within an expedited timeline of months.
• Experts warn the rushed migration could lead to critical system failures, including missed or incorrect benefit payments for over 65 million Americans who rely on Social Security.
• DOGE reportedly plans to use generative AI to translate millions of lines of COBOL code, raising concerns about accuracy, oversight, and the potential for cascading errors.
• The SSA's systems, largely unchanged since the 1980s, are described by technologists as fragile and prone to collapse under rapid modifications without proper testing.
• This initiative follows previous budget cuts and operational disruptions at SSA, including website crashes and long wait times, further heightening concerns about the feasibility of the overhaul.

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