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https://twitter.com/JuddLegum/status/1130097081643884544

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Judd Legum

@JuddLegum

Mar 26

1. NEW

Trump has installed a DOGE operative as the new Chief Information Officer of the Social Security Administration in an apparent effort to evade a federal court order blocking DOGE affiliates from accessing databases containing the sensitive personal information of millions of Americans.

2. Popular Information obtained an internal memorandum from Acting SSA Commissioner Leland Dudek announcing Scott Coulter, a DOGE operative previously assigned to NASA and the SSA, as the SSA's new CIO.

popular.info/p/how-the-soci…

3. The move, which was not announced publicly, seems related to a federal lawsuit filed by a coalition of labor unions On March 21, the federal judge overseeing the case granted plaintiffs a TRO which prohibited SSA from granting access to databases with Americans' personal info to the DOGE team

Read 6 tweets

Judd Legum

@JuddLegum

Mar 20

1. EXCLUSIVE

On Wednesday, the Social Security Administration secretly enacted a new policy to require 75K more people to visit field offices every week

"The havoc and destruction they’re causing is no doubt going to break the agency and hurt the public," an SSA source said

2. Each year, the SSA automatically issues millions of Social Security numbers and cards to non-citizens granted work authorizations as part of an agreement between the SSA and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)

The agreement is known as Enumeration Beyond Entry (EBE)

3. On Wednesday, the SSA sent an internal message informing staff that that the EBE program for "noncitizens granted work authorization" has been "temporarily" frozen

It is unknown how long the freeze will be in place or if it will ever be lifted

popular.info/p/exclusive-se…

Read 10 tweets

Judd Legum

@JuddLegum

Mar 18

1. As a candidate, Trump promised to protect access to the abortion pill.

Trump said that he staked out his position in a "long and hard campaign" and was "strongly against" restricting access.

Trump emphasized that he would stand by his "commitment."

Things have changed.

🧵

2. Trump claimed during the campaign that the "Supreme Court just approved the abortion pill." While SCOTUS dismissed a case challenging the abortion pill's legality, it did so only for technical reasons.

popular.info/p/trump-promis…

3. It found that the plaintiffs, a group of right-wing doctors, lacked standing.

The case that the Supreme Court dismissed is continuing, with states substituted in as the plaintiffs. And there are similar lawsuits filed in other federal courts.

The lawsuits argue that the sale of mifepristone violates the Comstock Act, an 1873 law that has been ignored or limited by courts

Read 6 tweets

Judd Legum

@JuddLegum

Mar 17

1. EXCLUSIVE

An internal Social Security Administration memo, dated March 13, lays out a plan to sabotage the agency.

The memo itself predicts "service disruption," "operational strain," and "budget shortfalls" will result.

Follow this thread for details.

2. The memo, authored by Acting Deputy SSA Commissioner Doris Diaz, purports to be motivated by a desire to mitigate "fraud risks."

Elon Musk has pushed several false claims about the nature and scope of Social Security fraud.

popular.info/p/exclusive-me…

3. The biggest change contemplated by the memo is to require "internet identity proofing" for "benefit claims… made over the phone."

When an SSA customer is "unable to utilize the internet ID proofing, customers will be required to visit a field office to provide in-person identity documentation"

Currently customers can make claims and verify their identity without using the internet or visiting a SSA office. Fraud is extremely rare because there are many safeguards in place.

Because the SSA serves a large population that is either older or disabled, many cannot access the internet.

Read 10 tweets

Judd Legum

@JuddLegum

Mar 13

1. So @DataRepublican, who has been promoted repeatedly by @elonmusk, published this post claiming that methodology of the Musk Watch DOGE Tracker is flawed.

She claims in the post below that she could not find a single contract that ended in 2024 where the outlay was less than the "Potential Contract Value." Not one.

She does not have any idea what she is doing. In this thread I will provide 75 links to contracts that ended in 2024 where the outlay is less than the "Potential Contract Value," totalling $57 billion.

This is a small subset of such contracts, from only three agencies. Moreover, the broader point is that canceling an option to extend or expand a contract does not save any money. The government holds these options and could simply not exercise the options. As this thread demonstrates, it frequently does not.

@DataRepublican, I look forward to your corrections and apology.

Read 4 tweets

Judd Legum

@JuddLegum

Mar 12

1. The DOGE website is garbage. The claimed savings has no relationship to the data provided.

And the data that is provided grossly inflates the savings from each canceled contract.

So we just launched our own site — the Musk Watch DOGE Tracker — that breaks everything down

2. The Musk Watch DOGE Tracker, which is currently updated to reflect the latest data posted by DOGE, finds that the actual verifiable savings is 8.6 billion — 92% less than the claimed savings of $105 billion.

Follow this thread for an explanation.

muskwatch.com/p/introducing-…

3. The $105 billion has no relationship to the data posted on the website.

The actual cuts that are itemized in any fashion on the website total just $29.9 billion.

This includes $14.5 billion in grants where the only information provided is the federal department and the dollar amount.

Read 9 tweets

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