SSA Completes Largest SSN Database Cleanup in 91 Years
Social Security Administration corrects 15% of active SSNs, updating death and citizenship records.
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The Social Security Administration (SSA) has completed its largest database cleanup in 91 years, correcting records for nearly 15% of all active Social Security numbers (SSNs). The update, part of the Trump administration’s broader effort to combat fraud, involved adding missing death and citizenship data across 330 million U.S. citizens and nearly 390 million total records.
Major Data Corrections
Commissioner Frank J. Bisignano described the database as the foundation of federal government services. The cleanup included adding 17 million dates of death to records that previously lacked them, leveraging internal SSA systems and Department of State data. About 25 million records were updated with missing citizenship information using the Department of Homeland Security’s SAVE service.
Another 8.5 million records with inaccurate citizenship status are still being corrected. The SSA emphasized the importance of accuracy in maintaining the integrity of government services for citizens. The agency has also implemented stronger internal controls to prevent manual-entry errors in the future.
Context and Challenges
Bisignano noted that some records incorrectly listed numberholders as being 150 or 160 years old, which created vulnerabilities. The cleanup follows the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) move in March 2025 to mark roughly 3.2 million numberholders aged 120 and older as deceased.
Democrats have raised concerns about the administration’s handling of death records. A former SSA employee told Congress that the agency was pressured to assign death dates to living people. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Richard Blumenthal demanded answers from Bisignano, who denied adding 2.7 million names to its Death Master File.
Legal and Regulatory Issues
A federal judge separately blocked the administration’s SAVE citizenship database earlier this year, highlighting ongoing legal challenges to the SSA’s efforts. The cleanup reflects a broader push to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the Social Security Number database for government services.
Related Coverage
SSA Launches Major Data Cleanup to Prevent Fraud (post_id: 8055)
Source: Breitbart
