HRES 195 — Of inquiry requesting the President of the United States to furnish certain information to the House of Representatives relating to the operations of the Social Security Administration after January 20, 2025, including information on the Department of Government Efficiency's access to the Social Security Administration and to information in the possession of such Administration.

CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED

 Pursuant to clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives, the Committee advises that H. Res. 
195 does not make any changes to existing law.

 VII. DISSENTING VIEWS

 Social Security has been the bedrock of Americans' 
financial security ever since President Franklin D. Roosevelt 
signed it into law nearly 90 years ago. Today, almost all 
workers contribute to Social Security and earn its benefits, 
and nearly one in 3 households include at least one person who 
receives Social Security. The income Social Security provides 
is vital for retirees, families who have lost a breadwinner, 
and workers who have experienced a career-ending injury or 
illness--helping them to put food on the table, pay the rent, 
heat their homes, cover medical bills, and more. Social 
Security's importance to the American people and its 
approximately 70 million beneficiaries cannot be overstated.
 Yet for years, the Social Security program has been 
threatened by efforts to undermine it, reduce benefits, and 
move the program toward privatization. Now, President Trump is 
spreading widely discredited information about the program and 
its integrity; Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, is 
calling Social Security a ``Ponzi scheme''; and the Trump 
Administration is taking a wrecking ball to the Social Security 
Administration (SSA). Undermining SSA's ability to serve the 
public is the next step in a calculated effort to dismantle 
trust in Social Security and open the door to privatization--an 
outcome that rewards Wall Street but jeopardizes the benefits 
working families rely on.
 This Resolution of Inquiry (ROI) seeks to ensure Congress 
carries out necessary oversight of the Trump Administration and 
activities of individuals affiliated with the so-called, faux 
``Department of Government Efficiency'' (DOGE) at SSA. This ROI 
asks for documents related to: (1) access to, and usage of 
SSA's information technology systems by Mr. Musk and DOGE, 
including the agency's beneficiary records and payment systems; 
(2) visits to SSA by Mr. Musk and representatives of DOGE; (3) 
actions taken by SSA to comply with Executive Orders issued by 
President Trump that jeopardize service to the public by 
slashing agency budgets, workforce, and offices; attack 
diversity, equity, and inclusion; and upend agency 
policymaking; (4) the volume of calls to SSA's national 1-800 
toll-free number after January 20, 2025; (5) the volume of 
calls and visitors to SSA's field offices after January 20, 
2025; (6) current and planned closures of SSA offices, 
including field offices and hearing offices, in 2025; and (7) 
current and planned reductions of SSA staff, in 2025.
 Social Security Subcommittee Ranking Member Larson captured 
the importance of this resolution in seeking transparency from 
the executive branch:

 ``Where's the independence of the committee? Where's 
 the legislature? We're an equal branch of government 
 and you start off with a blather and yet look at the 
 empty seats here. Where's Elon Musk? I'm sure he's a 
 genius and is a very credible person because of the 
 wealth he's accumulated. But that does not put him 
 above the law or the responsibility to come before this 
 committee in this Congress.''

 He has also heard significant concerns from constituents 
who receive Social Security benefits and are alarmed by Mr. 
Musk and his DOGE affiliate's actions, including these two:

 ``If my husband (age 76) and I (age 77) don't get our 
 Social Security, we would be forced to rapidly deplete 
 our savings before the end of our expected life spans. 
 My husband paid into Social Security for 53 years and 
 I've paid into it for 55 years. Musk's approach of 
 ``slash and burn'' as a way to save money must be 
 stopped!! It is a ruthless and irresponsible approach 
 to obtaining government efficiency or savings. Do 
 everything you can to get moderate Republicans to join 
 the Democrats and fight back on this!'' (Anonymous 
 Constituent)
 ``I am a Senior Citizen that relies on Social 
 Security as the main source of income to pay my rent as 
 well as monthly expenses. if my benefits are reduced or 
 if there is any disruption in my monthly payments, this 
 will cause me to lose my ability to remained housed. 
 This feeling of instability is ever present as long as 
 the current Maga administration and Elon Musk are 
 allowed access to our sensitive personal information. 
 This chaos and confusion is leading to total economic 
 instability for all Americans.'' (Anonymous 
 Constituent)

 Mr. Musk and individuals affiliated with DOGE first gained 
access to U.S. Treasury payment systems that deliver Social 
Security benefits and store millions of Americans' personal and 
confidential information, without anyone disclosing exactly 
what data they accessed and copied. This is an extreme breach 
of privacy. Under the guise of addressing fraud, Mr. Musk and 
DOGE affiliates then turned their attention to SSA, accessing 
its databases. SSA's beneficiary payment systems manage some of 
the most sensitive personal information, such as banking 
information, home addresses, and Social Security numbers 
(SSNs). SSA establishes SSNs for nearly all Americans, and 
SSA's confidential files can also include the reasons for 
benefit receipt, such as whether a person is receiving benefits 
because a parent or spouse has died; whether a person is 
receiving benefits due to a disability, and their specific 
medical conditions; or whether a child is receiving foster care 
services. Seniors, survivors, people with disabilities, and 
children who rely on Social Security benefits must be able to 
trust that their personal information is safeguarded, 
especially from those whose only interest is their own wealth. 
Member offices have been flooded with calls from constituents 
who have been alarmed that their personal information may be 
compromised by Elon Musk or those associated with DOGE--or even 
worse, who are frightened that their Social Security benefits 
will be cut off. No one should be rummaging around in 
confidential information of Social Security beneficiaries and 
the public. This is especially true for uncleared, 
unaccountable, and unelected people with no experience in 
managing or auditing government systems and programs.
 Under the guidance of DOGE, SSA officials also have 
announced plans to close offices and to cut its workforce by 
7,000 employees, or nearly one out of every 8 employees. 
Shuttering field and hearing offices and gutting SSA staffing 
has nothing to do with ``governmental efficiency.'' SSA already 
operates with a customer service budget of under one percent of 
benefit payments, and staffing is at a 50-year low, all while 
serving a record number of beneficiaries. Years of 
understaffing and lack of resources have led to a customer 
service crisis at SSA. Closing the very field and hearing 
offices that beneficiaries rely on and gutting staff would only 
deepen the crisis. If this plan becomes a reality, the public 
will face longer backlogs, delayed payments, and strained 
customer service, all of which are backdoor cuts to Social 
Security that will harm millions of Americans.
 The risks are real. As former Commissioner of Social 
Security Martin O'Malley recently noted, there is a significant 
danger ``that for the first time in over eight decades, Social 
Security benefits could be interrupted.'' In addition, 
Americans' personal data could be leaked, lost, sold, or used 
to enrich a few. Identity theft is a threat that too many 
Americans have already experienced. Thus, it is imperative that 
we receive information requested in this ROI.
 The constant stream of operational changes and missteps 
associated with DOGE's access to SSA is also sowing chaos and 
confusion. For example, the targeted and abrupt cancellation of 
Maine's access to SSA's Enumeration at Birth and Electronic 
Death Registry--now reinstated--would have ended the ability of 
parents to apply at the hospital for a SSN for their newborn, 
and for bereaved family members to report deaths through a 
funeral home. It also would have hindered the very SSA database 
that safeguards against payments to dead people. In another 
example of the chaos, recent and seemingly routine updates to 
SSA's Terms of Service for mySSA online accounts sparked panic 
among constituents, who were already alarmed over access by Mr. 
Musk and DOGE to Social Security's payment systems and 
confidential beneficiary files. Finally, during the Committee's 
markup of this ROI, The Washington Post broke news of pending 
Trump Administration plans to end SSA's 1-800 number phone 
service for millions of Americans filing retirement and 
disability claims. These changes would have significantly 
reduced access to benefits, especially for older beneficiaries 
who have challenges with internet services or live far from a 
field office. Due to outcry from the public, SSA reversed its 
decision hours later. Minority members submitted The Washington 
Post's article into the record.
 The steps the Trump Administration and Mr. Musk have taken 
are alarming. The President and Mr. Musk should be answering 
the questions members of Congress and the American people are 
asking: Why they are seeking access to private and confidential 
information at SSA, behind closed doors, while telling the 
public something different? Why are they gutting SSA's staff 
when the agency is at a fifty-year low and in the midst of a 
customer service crisis? Why are they restricting access for 
beneficiaries by closing field offices and hearing offices?
 Executive oversight is a fundamental responsibility of 
Congress. Passing this resolution would have helped to ensure 
transparency in our government. Yet the Majority voted to 
reject this resolution, allowing the executive branch to hide 
in the darkness from the American people and from Congress, 
unchecked as they rifle through the people's data.
 For these reasons, we believe our Majority colleagues were 
wrong to adversely report this Resolution of Inquiry to the 
full House of Representatives.
 Sincerely,
 Richard E. Neal,
 Ranking Member.