A Ponzi scheme “is a fraud intended to mislead investors,” said Christina C. Benson, an Elon University associate professor of business law. “Social Security is a legally mandated system that has been in place since the 1930s to serve as a critically important social safety net that allows working Americans to save towards retirement.”

The Trump administration says DOGE has a 10-person team of federal employees at the Social Security Administration, seven of whom have been granted read-only access to agency systems or personally identifiable information.