The Social Security Administration (SSA) announced Tuesday that it has corrected millions of Social Security Number (SSN) records, including adding missing death dates and updating citizenship status for millions of individuals. The agency said it used the Department of Homeland Security's Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) service to verify citizenship data.
Commissioner Frank J. Bisignano called the SSN database "our country's books and records," stressing that accuracy is vital to preventing fraud and ensuring proper benefit administration. "Accurate SSN records prevent fraud across federal programs and support the proper administration of benefits," he said in a press release.
The agency said it updated approximately 25 million records that lacked citizenship information, using SAVE. That system became a political flashpoint after President Trump directed DHS to help election officials verify voter citizenship, and later mandated states turn over voter rolls to the department. A federal judge blocked that order in early October, but the SAVE system itself remains in use.
SSA also reported it is in the process of correcting an additional 8.5 million records with inaccurate citizenship status. The agency said it has corrected nearly 15 percent of all active SSNs since the beginning of the Trump administration.
In a separate effort, SSA added 17 million dates of death to records that previously lacked them, using internal systems and State Department data. The agency described this as the first record-integrity initiative of its scale.
The push comes as Social Security faces a looming funding cliff that could affect future benefits. The administration's anti-fraud efforts are part of a broader GOP strategy ahead of the midterms, which has also included attacks on Democratic immigration policies.
Critics have questioned the accuracy of SAVE data and warned of potential disenfranchisement, but the administration maintains that cleaning up the rolls is essential to election integrity.
