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
“4th Circuit tosses DOJ effort to halt a 14-day order restricting DOGE access at the Social Security Admin. Now we await ruling on longer-term injunction (which admin would appeal)”
-Z Tillman
#Courts #SSA #USPol https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-03-20/judge-blocks-doge-access-to-social-security-records-for-now
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 skal bytte ut trygdesystemet som er skrevet i COBOL på noen måneder. Det er jo kanskje en god idẽ men det er spennende å se hvordan det går. Ikke minst for de som er helt avhengig av at systemet fungerer https://www.kode24.no/artikkel/doge-vil-skrive-om-cobol-trygdesystem-pa-fa-maneder/82903339
What could possibly go wrong? #DOGE to rapidly rebuild #SocialSecurity codebase.
A safe and proper rewrite should take years not months.
The project organized by #Musk lieutenant #SteveDavis, multiple sources who were not given permission to talktell WIRED, and aims to migrate all #SSA systems off #COBOL, one of the first common business-oriented programming languages, and onto a more modern replacement like #Java within a scheduled tight timeframe of a few months.
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/03/what-could-possibly-go-wrong-doge-to-rapidly-rebuild-social-security-codebase/
DOGE has announced that it plans to Migrate SSA Code Base in Months from COBOL to an unknown system, Risking Benefits and System Collapse
Note to GenXers with elderly parents. Do you manage their finances and Social Security account? If so, stay up to date with any forms you might need when they pass away. My dad passed in Feb and they locked his online SSA account within days. Now I have to file his taxes but have no SSA statement and can’t access it. Been on hold for two hours now.
EDIT: Took 3.5 hours for a 5 minute phone call. And I have to do it again next year. #socialsecurity #ssa #parents #caregiver #genx
#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…
What could possibly go wrong? #DOGE to rapidly rebuild #SocialSecurity #codebase.
Under any circumstances, a migration of this size and scale would be a massive undertaking, experts tell WIRED, but the expedited deadline runs the risk of obstructing payments to the more than 65 million people in the US currently receiving Social Security benefits.
#cobol #ssa #takeover #retirement #takedown #maga #trump
> sadly, most likely crash and burn
@NinaBernstein1 Sounds like a job for SuperNina! I'm a retired guy and don't get 90% of my income from #SSA but the idea of someone taking what's rightfully mine pisses me off!
Heather Cox Richardson, 28 March 2025: ‘#Musk’s…#DOGE is planning to move the computer system of the #SocialSecurity Administration (#SSA) off…COBOL, to a new system. In 2017, the SSA estimated that such a migration would take about 5 years. DOGE is planning for the migration to take just a few months, using…[AI].
Experts have expressed concern... “If you weren’t worried about a whole bunch of people not getting #benefits…or having to wait ages, then sure go ahead.”’ https://open.substack.com/pub/heathercoxrichardson/p/march-28-2025?r=7p2cc&utm_medium=ios
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
I think the plan will be to put a team together to translate the #SSA code bases to some other platform, that much is true. I don't believe that they're actually going to put a full faith effort into doing it. Crippling the Social Security Administration is the point. Legally & Legislatively, they can't kill it, it's too popular. They can, however, directly sabotage the SSA. Make it fail in such a catastrophic way that it loses all trust and credibility, *then* you can kill it legislatively.
https://archive.ph/2025.03.29-073046/https://www.wired.com/story/doge-rebuild-social-security-administration-cobol-benefits/ Anyone who knows the slightest about transferring legacy systems from #COBOL to a modern one knows that’s a process that takes 3-5 years, at least, for substantial systems. If #Musk tries to do it in a few months with the #SSA it will be catastrophic failure and mean chronic, long-term errors. #SocialSecurity #DOGE
SSA: Compassionate Allowances are a way to quickly identify diseases and other medical conditions that, by definition, meet Social Security's standards for disability benefits. These conditions primarily include certain cancers, adult brain disorders, and a number of rare disorders that affect children. The CAL initiative helps us reduce waiting time to reach a disability determination for individuals with the most serious disabilities.
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
Trying to backup some Social Security info before #doge buffoons screw it all up, but getting a dead bird icon. Not sure what to make of that.
All #SeniorCitizens like me (I'm 75 this year) are not addled or infirm but thanks for offering your help to help those who may be.
I know how to access the #SSA website & receive notices from them periodically, including the recent notice of the 40% increase in my #SocialSecurityBenefits plus a nice lump sum payment for past due benefits that I just received due to the passage of the Social Security Fairness Act (#SSFA).
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