Tag Archives: Elon Musk

MiBolsilloColombia: Only 0.3% of SSA frauds were considered incorrect, what about DOGE?

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A recent initiative by the Social Security Administration (SSA) to detect fraud, partly driven by the now-defunct Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) led by Elon Musk, has sparked significant controversy. 

The Social Security Administration’s (SSA) recent anti-fraud initiative, influenced by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has stirred a storm of debate. The DOGE, once under the leadership of Elon Musk, made audacious claims about rampant fraud within the SSA. However, the SSA’s new detection system revealed a starkly different reality, identifying only a minuscule amount of potential fraud while inadvertently delaying the processing of numerous claims.

The primary justification for the SSA’s anti-fraud policy stemmed from statements by DOGE members. Aram Moghaddassi, a DOGE engineer, claimed on Fox News that 40% of calls to the SSA for direct deposit changes were from scammers. This assertion was echoed by Elon Musk and Vice President JD Vance. Musk even suggested that his engineers had uncovered “$100 billion a week” in fraudulent payments, a figure that raised eyebrows across the board.

But:

Of over 110,000 claims reviewed, less than 1% were flagged for potential fraud, and only two were deemed to have a “high probability” of being fraudulent.

Only 0.3% of SSA frauds were considered incorrect, what about DOGE?
A recent initiative by the Social Security Administration (SSA) to detect fraud, partly driven by the now-defunct Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) led by Elon Musk, has sparked significant controversy.

https://www.mibolsillo.co/news/Only-0.3-of-SSA-frauds-were-considered-incorrect-what-about-DOGE-20250526-0031.html

The Nation: The Supreme Court Gifts Trump Even More Power

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The court seems ready to give the president extraordinary power over what had been independent worker- and consumer-protection agencies.

The court seems ready to give the president extraordinary power over what had been independent worker- and consumer-protection agencies.

Here’s a troubling news alert for everyone who cares about workers and consumers being protected from illegal, exploitative, and dangerous business practices: The Supreme Court appears ready to give President Donald Trump extraordinary power over what for nearly a century have been independent expert federal worker and consumer protection agencies insulated from White House interference.

The court showed its hand in Wilcox v. Trump—the case involving Trump’s unprecedented effort to fire Gwynne Wilcox—a Senate-confirmed member of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and the first Black woman to ever serve as a member of the NLRB.

Members of independent agencies like the NLRB, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), are nominated by the president and confirmed by the US Senate for defined terms. They are protected by law against being removed from office except where there has been wrongdoing and only after notice and a hearing. The Supreme Court has recognized and respected these “for cause” removal protections for 90 years.

That is, until now. Upon taking office for his second term, Trump decided that he has the power to unilaterally remove members of independent boards and commissions whenever and for whatever reason he wants. The list of casualties is long—in addition to Wilcox, he has fired members of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the FTC, the CPSC, the Merit Systems Protection Board, the Federal Labor Relations Authority, and more. And by firing these officials, Trump has left these consumer- and worker-protection agencies without a quorum to act and hold corporations accountable.

…

The court’s order is going to embolden a president who has already shown himself willing to push or violate the boundaries of his power. Now that the Supreme Court has nodded at his power to fire members of independent boards and commissions, he will undoubtably continue to do so, even before the Supreme Court definitively rules on the merits of the question in its next term.

The Supreme Court Gifts Trump Even More Power
The court seems ready to give the president extraordinary power over what had been independent worker- and consumer-protection agencies.

https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/wilcox-trump-federal-agencies

MSNBC: Leaked audio suggests Trump’s new Social Security chief had to Google his own job

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The apparent fact that the new Social Security commissioner, up until recently, had no idea what his job entailed does not inspire confidence.

First Frank Bisignano  tries to pass himself off as:

“fundamentally a DOGE person,”

which sets off alarms for those who don’t want Social Security cut, so Bisignano 

took steps to distance himself from DOGE-imposed changes at the Social Security Administration

but

Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon produced a statement from a purported whistleblower, who claimed that Bisignano had personally intervened to get key DOGE officials involved at the agency

Now that he is on the job, he admits that

he wasn’t familiar with the position and had to look it up online.

Bisignano said: “So, I get a phone call and it’s about Social Security. And I’m really, I’m really not, I swear I’m not looking for a job. And I’m like, ‘Well, what am I going to do?’ So, I’m Googling Social Security. You know, one of my great skills, I’m one of the great Googlers on the East Coast.”

Does he also know how to Google on the West Coast, or is he just a one-coast Googler?

This guy is running Social Security?

Does he remember his name?

Does he know where he is?

Does ….

Leaked audio suggests Trump’s new Social Security chief had to Google his own job

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/leaked-audio-suggests-trumps-new-social-security-chief-google-job-rcna208797

MSNBC: Trump admin regulators launch investigation into Media Matters, adding to pattern

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If it seems as if there have been a lot of new federal investigations into Democrats and their allies lately, it’s not your imagination.

But it’s important to remember that many of the White House’s political antagonists are, in fact, facing the kind of investigations that Trump has in mind. The New York Times reported:

The Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday opened an investigation into Media Matters, a liberal advocacy organization that has published research on hateful and antisemitic content on X, according to two people familiar with the inquiry. The regulator said in a letter sent to the organization that it was investigating the group, which is aligned with Democrats, over whether it illegally colluded with advertisers, according to the people.

…

The public has learned in recent weeks that the administration — led by a president whose second-term “revenge tour” has been unsubtle — is also investigating and/or prosecuting a variety of Democratic officials and candidates, including Rep. LaMonica McIver of New Jersey, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, New York Attorney General Letitia James and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy.

This dovetails with the president directing the Justice Department to go after Christopher Krebs, who led the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency; which came on the heels of Trump pressing the Department of Homeland Security to investigate Miles Taylor, a former high-ranking DHS official. The president did this not because there’s evidence of Krebs or Taylor having done anything wrong, but because they defied him several years ago. They went on his enemies list, and now he’s exacting revenge.

Around the same time, Trump also directed the Justice Department to investigate ActBlue, the Democratic Party’s most important fundraising platform.

And did I mention the investigation into former FBI director James Comey? Because that’s underway, too.

Trump and his team are also going after law firms, universities and news organizations they consider political foes of the White House.

What’s more, given Ed Martin’s new responsibilities at the Justice Department, this overtly and abusive partisan pattern is likely to intensify.

So Trump hates everybody?

Axios recently noted, “In the final days of the 2024 campaign, Axios identified a list of perceived adversaries who fit what Trump ominously described as ‘the enemies from within.’ As president, he has taken steps to retaliate against virtually all of them.” That was two months ago. The problem is vastly worse now, and there’s no reason to believe conditions will improve anytime soon.

Trump admin regulators launch investigation into Media Matters, adding to pattern
If it seems as if there have been a lot of new federal investigations into Democrats and their allies lately, it’s not your imagination.

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-admin-regulators-launch-investigation-media-matters-adding-patte-rcna208780

Snopes: Clarifying claim that DOGE, RFK Jr. found 8M people fraudulently on Medicaid

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The numbers appeared tied to estimates on the number of people who may be cut from Medicaid under U.S. President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill.”

Snopes has a lengthy discussion of claims by F’Elon Musk (DOGE) and Robert “Brainworm” Kennedy Jr. that they found 8M people fraudently on Medicaid. Their conclusion:

These numbers don’t add up to 8 million … 

Like almost everything else involving DOGE, the math doesn’t work out.

You can click the link below to read the article:

Clarifying claim that DOGE, RFK Jr. found 8M people fraudulently on Medicaid
The numbers appeared tied to estimates on the number of people who may be cut from Medicaid under U.S. President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill.”

https://www.snopes.com/news/2025/05/24/medicaid-doge-rfk-jr

Raw Story: DOGE team using AI to scour personal data to root out Trump disloyalty: report

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Elon Musk’s team is using a custom version of his artificial intelligence chatbot Grok to scour the sensitive government data scooped up by the Department of Government Efficiency, raising serious concerns about privacy, conflicts of interest and national security.

The DOGE team is expanding use of the AI chatbot, three sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters, but it’s not clear which specific data had been fed into the generative tool or how the custom system was set up, and five experts told the news organization that the arrangement may violate security and privacy laws.

“Given the scale of data that DOGE has amassed and given the numerous concerns of porting that data into software like Grok, this to me is about as serious a privacy threat as you get,” said Albert Fox Cahn, executive director of the nonprofit Surveillance Technology Oversight Project.

…

“This gives the appearance that DOGE is pressuring agencies to use software to enrich Musk and xAI, and not to the benefit of the American people,” said Richard Painter, who served as ethics counsel to former president George W. Bush and a current University of Minnesota professor.

Two sources said DOGE staffers directed Department of Homeland Security officials to use Grok, although it hadn’t been approved for use in that agency, and the sources said the federal government would have to pay Musk’s organizations to use that AI tool, which Painter said could violate criminal conflict-of-interest statute.

“They were pushing it to be used across the department,” said one of the sources.

DOGE team using AI to scour personal data to root out Trump disloyalty: report

https://www.rawstory.com/doge-team-sensitive-private-data-2672192671

Daily Beast: John Roberts Personally Delivers DOGE Win for Trump

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Chief Justice John Roberts has personally shielded the Department of Government Efficiency from having to hand over reams of internal data.

Acting as an individual, Roberts temporarily blocked two orders from a lower court that instructed DOGE to turn over thousands of pages of documents and have its administrator, Amy Gleason, sit for a deposition.

The emergency stay only required Robert’s approval, not the entire Supreme Court’s, as he is the justice who handles these requests when they arise out of the Washington, D.C., courts.

The stay is temporary, likely only to last a few days. It allows the court time to decide whether it wants to consider the case on its merits and make a ruling.

The question at stake in the case is whether DOGE has to fulfill public information requests under the Freedom of Information Act. The case hinges on whether the group, which has been led by Elon Musk, is a government agency.

The Trump administration has argued that DOGE is merely an advisory group to President Donald Trump and therefore does not have to hand over its data.

So for now, at least, there will be no sunshine.

John Roberts Personally Delivers DOGE Win for Trump
The chief justice intervened on the agency’s behalf.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/chief-justice-roberts-personally-delivers-doge-data-win-for-trump

Huffington Post: Marjorie Taylor Greene Is Over Here Fighting With An AI Bot About God

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When the congresswoman posted to her personal account a list of her attributes — Christian faith foremost among them — another X user asked Grok if she really can be considered a Christian. 

The bot offered an evenhanded reply.

“Whether she’s ‘really’ a Christian is subjective, depending on personal and theological views. Her faith appears genuine to her, but public actions create controversy,” it said, in part. 

Said Marjorie:

“When people give up their own discernment, stop seeking the truth, and depend on AI to analyze information, they will be lost.”

She at least got that one right. Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

Another user asked Grok for a yes or no answer on whether Greene’s public comments and voting record align with the teachings of Jesus Christ.

“No,” it said.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/marjorie-taylor-greene-spars-with-ai-robot-grok_n_6830b84de4b0ca4a5f567f12

Alternet: ‘Fake news and propaganda’: MTG erupts at Musk’s ‘non-human AI’ after it doubts her faith

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Grok – the artificial intelligence (AI) built for X owner Elon Musk’s social media platform – recently questioned whether Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) was a real Christian, which was apparently a bridge too far for the far-right lawmaker.

The Daily Beast first reported on the spat between Greene and Grok, noting that it began with one X user asking Grok whether Greene was “really a Christian” in response to a tweet in which she called herself “an imperfect sinner saved by grace and faith in Jesus.” The AI told the user: “Greene’s Christian nationalism and support for conspiracy theories, like QAnon, spark debate.”

“Critics, including religious leaders, argue her actions contradict Christian values of love and unity,” Grok added, after saying “whether she’s ‘really’ a Christian is subjective.”

Poor Marjorie!

https://www.alternet.org/mtg-musk-ai

Irish Star: Elon Musk embarrassed as Social Security ‘fraud’ claim debunked by new data

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 Musk and fellow DOGE proponents’ assertions about revamping Social Security due to colossal fraud losses have been met with skepticism.

Fortune reports that Doge’s bid to transform the government’s main safety-net program, citing claims of it hemorrhaging vast sums to fraud, despite Musk’s team being denied permission to view official documents.

Musk, who had a humiliating screaming match with a Trump official, has boldly claimed that his team has unearthed weekly fraudulent entitlement payments totaling a staggering $100 billion, calling the situation ‘utterly insane. ‘

During an April Fox News interview, Social Security department staffer Aram Moghaddassi concurred with Musk’s sentiment, stating that 40% of calls they receive about altering direct-deposit data are from tricksters.

…

However, according to Fortune – which referenced a government technology-focused news source, the actual frequency of phone-related fraud is minuscule, barely exceeding a fraction of 1%.

Nextgov/FCW snagged an internal scoop revealing that out of 110,000 Social Security claims, merely two have been identified as highly probable for fraud. The tech news site indicates less than 1% of claims are even slightly suspicious for fraudulent activity.

Elon Musk embarrassed as Social Security ‘fraud’ claim debunked by new data
Claims from Elon Musk and the Department of Government Employees (DOGE) that the Social Security program is losing billions of dollars, despite Musk being blocked from viewing official files, to fraud are being challenged by new data

https://www.irishstar.com/news/us-news/elon-musk-social-security-doge-35277349