The database includes millions of Americans who are probably dead but who have no death records. But they generally don’t collect checks, as Musk and Trump suggest.

The Social Security Administration’s acting commissioner has stepped down from her role at the agency over Department of Government Efficiency requests to access Social Security recipient information.

When people think of Social Security, they typically think of monthly benefits — for the roughly 69 million retirees, disabled workers, dependents and survivors who receive them today.