From COBOL To Crisis? DOGE's Plan To Rewrite Social Security's Code In Months Sparks Fears Of Payment Disruptions

[Eugene]

Source: Benzinga

From COBOL To Crisis? DOGE's Plan To Rewrite Social Security's Code In Months Sparks Fears Of Payment Disruptions

Kaili Killpack
Fri, April 4, 2025 at 12:30 PM EDT 4 min read

The Social Security Administration is facing a potential overhaul of its computer systems, one that could disrupt the benefits of millions of Americans who rely on these payments. The Department of Government Efficiency aims to migrate the SSA's infrastructure away from its decades-old COBOL programming language in just a few months. Experts warn that such an aggressive timeline could jeopardize the very system that supports the financial well-being of millions of people.

What is DOGE’s Plan?

DOGE has outlined a proposal to replace the core programming of the SSA, which has been running on COBOL—a language created in the late 1950s. According to WIRED, DOGE's team is pushing to complete this transition in just a matter of months. This proposal is raising red flags across the tech community. Modernizing such a massive system is already a monumental task, but attempting to do so in such a compressed timeframe could lead to costly errors.

The Role of COBOL

Many critics of the SSA's infrastructure point to its reliance on COBOL, which, despite its age, remains a workhorse for many financial systems. According to Reuters, COBOL is still widely used to process 95% of ATM transactions worldwide. The programming language’s longevity is a testament to its stability and efficiency, particularly when handling large datasets, such as those needed to calculate and distribute Social Security benefits.

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Potential for Disaster

One of the most pressing concerns is the possibility of payment errors or system outages. The SSA handles an enormous volume of financial transactions each year—840 million to be exact. Small discrepancies in calculations could result in catastrophic errors. A former SSA technologist told WIRED that COBOL processes decimal values differently than newer languages like Java, meaning that even a minor error could lead to incorrect payments for recipients, further straining an already complicated system.

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Read more: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/cobol-crisis-doges-plan-rewrite-163043543.html

[KarenS]

1. I used to program and maintain computer systems written in COBOL.

Last edited Sat Apr 5, 2025, 06:43 PM - Edit history (1)

Good Grief. That is truly a way to 'accidentally' destroy Social Security,,,, rewrite the damn computer system.


On edit:
Further thoughts on this,,,, To properly understand a large old computer system such as this, it must be thoroughly analyzed and flow-charted which would take many months,,,, To think they can replace the 'core' of it in just a few months is outrageous and wrong and criminal. This is "CEO" and upper management speak, salesman speak,,,, There is zero reality to these statements.


I am now truly afraid.

[Henry203]

2. It takes more than a couple of months to write and test this.

[Hope22]

3. Seems like this is just a rotation of T threats.

Today at the top of the pile is Doge and more personal threats to Americans. No way they can build a new version so quickly and not hose the system. It’s more than time for Congress to step in and say hell no! Yesterday he officially tanked the global economy. Seems like that deserves more than a twenty hour window! Just saying!

[Silent Type]

4. Least of my worries. They can probably convert almost any large payment system to handle SS requirements.

But it’ll take longer than a month, with plenty of testing before scraping old system.

[lapfog_1]

5. I used to teach COBOL

The COmmon Business Oriented Language developed ( partially ) by Admiral Grace Murray Hopper ( I got to meet her once upon a time ).

It's not a fun language to write software in... but, it works. The python kids will know nothing about how it works ( or doesn't work as the case may be ).. I doubt they can even read it and comprehend what the author was trying to do.

Best thing would be to give the source code to an AI and let it try to document it. Then write new software to the documented purpose and current data structures and files ( do NOT attempt to change both the software and the data structures at the same time ).

But we are talking about months if not a year to convert all of the software... and even then, probably some of the data is "corrupt" or irregular in some way ( those 150 year old people in the SS database ). That will take years to sort out.

[mysuzuki2]

6. Replacing civilization not a bad thing in and of itself

But it must be done in a slow and careful way. I do not trust these moron magatsto understand this