The Department of Government Efficiency-DOGE’s new plan to overhaul the Social Security Administration is doomed to fail. DOGE has plans to completely change the technical infrastructure of the SSA and replace it with an entirely new program within a few months.
This ambitious effort is doomed to fail, raising concerns among experts. The past has proved that large-scale software upgrades and modernization projects have been costly and prone to failure. Considering that the SSA processes approximately $1.3 trillion in benefits for over 70 million people annually, a disruption to the system could cause a serious financial catastrophe to millions of disabled individuals, retirees, and low-income families.
DOGE’s plan risks breaking an infrastructure that for decades has served Americans reliably and efficiently. Instead, they should focus on improving it.
Why the Current Software System is the Backbone of the Social Security Administration
The SSA has depended on a specialized software system for decades now, and it has ensured timely and accurate benefit payments. Changing it would cause the agency to be unable to calculate benefits, enforce eligibility rules, and track payments.
Additionally, maintaining the current infrastructure has been only 0.5% of the program’s total expenses, which is an impressively low overhead. Replacing the software system would require significant investment and force SSA to partner with major technology firms such as Dell, Leidos, and IBM to help it keep the system running smoothly. This can be avoided because the existing system has not failed.
The rush that DOGE has in replacing SSA’s technical infrastructure would introduce errors, thus disrupting benefit payments. It could also cost the agency more besides risking leading to financial hardships for millions of beneficiaries who depend on Social Security.
The Programming Language and Mainframes of the Current SSA System are Misunderstood but Crucial
SSA relies on COBOL, a programming language developed in 1959. This language has been updated continuously, with the most current update occurring in 2023 by the International Standards Organization. Critics arguing that the SSA relies on an outdated version forget that other alternative languages like C are over 50 years old, JavaScript turns 30 this year, and Python is 34.
COBOL is still in use today because it processes massive amounts of financial data with higher accuracy than the above alternatives. For this reason, it is widely used in the financial sector, with 95% of ATM transactions relying on it.
Therefore, transitioning away from COBOL would cause errors in handling financial calculations. Although differences in figures with decimal points, e.g., 1000.99 and 1000.98, might seem small, alternative languages would create massive discrepancies when calculating SSA’s 840 million financial transactions annually.
The planned overhaul is also a misunderstanding that the mainframes are outdated. The machines in use at SSA right now are not outdated, they are powerful and modern systems for large-scale data processing that have been upgraded continuously for years. They have been widely used in banking, government, and healthcare. SSA has used them for decades, too, because they have enabled it to distribute payments accurately and on time for millions of beneficiaries annually.
Why DOGE’s Planned Overhaul is a Major Gamble
Although Elon Musk might have experience in the technological sector, launching rockets and managing successful social media platforms, revamping the Social Security infrastructure is a different challenge, and the risks of failure are enormous. Unlike X (formerly Twitter), which could only inconvenience users for a few hours in case it collapses, the collapse of SSA could leave millions of people without medication, food, and rent.
The biggest mistake DOGE is making by pushing for changes with the SSA system is forgetting or ignoring that the current system has undergone decades of modernization and upgrading for it to run efficiently.
It would be better if DOGE considered updating the infrastructure continuously rather than opting for a one-time overhaul, which is risky.
Conclusion
Even though the SSA’s system is old, it has been reliable and sustainable and has worked for decades without failure. The rushed plan by DOGE to overhaul it could risk the livelihoods of millions of SSA’s dependents. Instead of risking this, DOGE should focus on targeted improvements that would enhance the efficiency of the existing system without compromising its functionality.