Elon Musk shared a chart on X purportedly showing more than 398 million eligible numbers in the Social Security database. Online posts misconstrued the figures to wrongly claim they showed how many people are receiving benefits,
The Government Pension Offset, passed in 1977 and called GPO, reduces benefits for survivors if the spouse had a pension that wasn't taxed for Social Security. The Social Security benefits can be cut by up to two-thirds of the public employee’s pension.
The program, run by the Social Security Administration, distributes payments to those with debilitating disabilities that may affect their income.
Social media users shared the claim in the form of a meme featuring a photo of Trump adviser Elon Musk holding a chainsaw.
The Social Security Administration is preparing to lay off at least 7,000 people from its workforce of 60,000, according to a person familiar with the agency's plans who is not authorised to speak publicly.