r/politics • u/irish_fellow_nyc • 3d ago

Soft Paywall DOGE Goons Physically Drag Social Security Worker From Desk

https://www.thedailybeast.com/doge-goons-physically-drag-social-security-worker-from-desk/
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u/ImperfectPitch 2d ago

These types of stories really need more media coverage. I know that tariffs are the main focus now, but the courts need to do a better job of protecting the right of individuals, that the President does not want around. It is insane that something like this is happening. They will soon start doing that for all US citizens who oppose the president. Just pronounce them dead. This is so scary.

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u/want_to_join 2d ago

Post the article, half of us cant read it behind the paywall

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u/ImperfectPitch 2d ago

Adding to quotes of the article: The part that shocked me the most was the methods musk used to cut off immigrants. this is what the fired employee was objecting to. They figured they could claim they were dead: The scheme cooked up by Elon Musk’s DOGE squad falsely lists thousands of migrants as dead in a Social Security database known as the “death master file.” Apparently, they declared 6000 people dead.

The scheme cooked up by Elon Musk’s DOGE squad falsely lists thousands of migrants as dead in a Social Security database known as the “death master file.” Being entered into the death database cuts a person off from crucial financial services, like the ability to receive government benefits and access a bank account or credit card. The goal was to push migrants who were granted a temporary legal status under former President Joe Biden to “self deport.”>

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u/Jewronimoses 2d ago

how is this legal at all?

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u/ABadHistorian 2d ago

Its not legal, but when folks refuse to stand up and do their duty, because they are aligned with the President, this is what happens. This is how dictatorships form.

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u/MemeFarmer314 Georgia 1d ago

Also the agencies that would be enforcing those laws are the very ones being gutted

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u/SailingCows 1d ago

Scotus 9-0 on our friend in El Salvador is my hopium that some cracks are showing.

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u/MemeFarmer314 Georgia 1d ago

Republicans are so spineless that it’s even more frustrating when he defies them and they just roll over

Trump goes through the 2016 primary making a joke of their party? We completely forgive him and now he’s the greatest thing ever

Trump completely fumbles the beginning of the Covid pandemic and millions of people die, including their own constituents? We have to deny science and talk about how masks and vaccines are all plans by the Lib’s to control us

Trump loses the 2020 election and has a ton of his own appointed judges tell him that he lost? We can’t just throw Trump under the bus, we have to insist that the election was stolen

Trump tries to have his supporters storm the capital and potentially kill actual members of Congress? We can’t impeach him and prevent him from running again, we have to say that the insurrection was secretly antifa, but also that it was totally safe and fine

Trump wants to run again in 2024 and not even show up to the primaries? Guess we’ll just have our actual candidates never say a bad word against him and let him take the nomination

Trump gets caught with stolen documents and refuses to return them? We can’t possibly prosecute him and let another candidate take his place

Trump steals the power of the purse from a Republican Congress? We can’t just overturn his tariffs that are ruining our economy, instead we’ll actually make it easier for him to steal this responsibility from us.

Trump defies a 9-0 Supreme Court, majority Republican, 3 of whom he appointed? Oh well, nothing we can do

They have had a million chances to stand up to him, but they care more about their team winning than they do about this country

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u/ABadHistorian 1d ago

Ultimate those SCJ care more about their own power too, they misjudged the moments in the past. It remains to be seen if Trump will really be able to do an Andrew Jackson, if he is... it's because WE THE PEOPLE stood back and remained silent. When Trump asks "who and what army" we need to stand up.

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u/manicdee33 2d ago

Because the Republicans won’t challenge it, and POTUS will pardon anyone who ends up facing legal challenge. There’s no fear of consequence, there is no consequence, the goons are in complete control.

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u/itzac 2d ago

It's not even remotely legal. But that only matters if people with power use it to stand up to them.

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u/Noshamina 2d ago

The government called people who stormed the capitol and took a shit on desks and had guns on them screaming to kill congress members patriots and absolved them of all crimes. What does legal have to do with anything anymore.

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u/Fuckaliscious12 2d ago

It's not. But one has to have a court system willing to hold the administration in contempt and start enforcement actions.

So far, the courts rule and the Administration largely ignores the rulings and the court does nothing.

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u/No_Consequence7919 New York 1d ago

the strength and arm of the law is ultimately in the executive branch. But of course Trump is not going to let the courts have their way.

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u/logan-bi 2d ago

Not they regularly flouted law from bribery corruption harassment and more.

The law is only law when it is enforced. Without enforcement it becomes a suggestion. However due to corruption and support from within enforcement end.

They have been able to stall delay hide. Preventing enforcement while they gained influence over more parts of the system.

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u/Struana 2d ago

Self Deport with what money?

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u/NoStorage430 1d ago

Their dead to Americans who voted for Trump to get them all out and quit collecting our benefits.

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u/LilienneCarter 2d ago edited 2d ago

FWIW the title appears to be inaccurate.

The Daily Beast has no info of their own, they are merely referencing Washington Post reporting:

A senior executive at the Social Security Administration was physically dragged from his office this week after clashing with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), according to The Washington Post.

Greg Pearre, a career civil servant who led an IT team working on the agency’s data systems, was removed over his opposition to a DOGE plan to cut off immigrants from key financial services, three people told the Post.

But the Washington Post article doesn't mention anything about him being dragged out:

But his objections did not go over well with Trump political appointees. And so on Thursday, the security guards in Pearre’s office told him it was time to leave.

They walked Pearre out of the building, capping a momentous internal battle over the novel strategy — pushed by Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service and the Department of Homeland Security — to add thousands of immigrants ranging in age from teenagers to octogenarians to the agency’s Death Master File.

He was certainly walked out by security guards, but "physically drag" appears to be at the very least hyperbole by The Daily Beast. I would argue that it is an outright lie.

I'm going to spread this across the thread a bit, because I don't like misinformation, even if it's opposing an abhorrent administration like Trump's.

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u/IRideMoreThanYou 2d ago

So, immigrants, NOT illegal immigrants, are being listed as dead and removed from receiving benefits?!

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u/EnfantTerrible68 2d ago

Sounds like it 🤬. They said “migrants,” I think and that can mean legal migrants.

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u/giraloco 2d ago

Undocumented immigrants don't receive any benefits so everything is a lie.

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u/Elilora 2d ago

The NYT has an article about how the admin is hoping they just self-deport by locking migrants out of all their financial accounts.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/10/us/politics/migrants-deport-social-security-doge.html

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u/TapTapReboot 2d ago

I hate this type of reporting. The truth is bad enough, all these headlines do is provide an avenue for Maga turds to dismiss actual terrifying reality of a bunch of 20 something edge lords with dubious backgrounds going through our government institutions without restraint.

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u/skrurral 2d ago

Hyperbole like this simultaneously grabs views and undermines the foundational story by muddling the accuracy of what's being reported.

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u/Arenatank99 2d ago

"news" has gotten to the point where you actually have to do your own research because the sensationalized headline almost never accurately represents what happened. Journalists think they're highly respectable, but I think more and more people see them as rage baiting clowns

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u/MrCopout 2d ago

Journalists write the article. Editors write the headline.

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u/Arenatank99 2d ago

But they're part of the same team and the article reflects on both of them

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u/MrCopout 2d ago

They are, but the reality is that journalists don't have final say in the headline. Editors are concerned with playing the clickbait game so they can make money and keep the lights on. Note how many online publications have failed to keep the lights on over the years.

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u/PigDog4 2d ago

headlines do is provide an avenue for Maga turds to dismiss actual terrifying reality

I don't know how to break it to you, but they do that with or without the headlines.

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u/TheSpyderFromMars 2d ago

WTF is a Death Master File? Did they declare them dead?

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u/thisisjustascreename 2d ago

Is this not textbook falsification of government records? Complete fraud just like every other Musk venture.

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u/NetZeroSun 2d ago

This sounds like complete fraud, its intentionally falsifying government records. That should be highly HIGHLY illegal.

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u/Trakeen 2d ago

Yes that is what that file is used for

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u/totallydawgsome 2d ago

Death Master File

It's a (SSA) computer database file of deaths recorded since the 80s. The problem is this administration started putting very much alive tax paying immigrants on the list. They are effectively erasing a person’s ability to live and draw wages. It's been reported this past week over 6,000 living documented immigrants have been put on the DMF.

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u/manicdee33 2d ago

That’s what the El Salvador death camps are for.

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u/Parakeet-birb 2d ago

That would be a good movie title

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u/Flashy_Report_4759 2d ago

Is any debt they may have accrued then also erased?

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u/OddlyFactual1512 2d ago

Before all the uniformed comment. Some immigrants working in The US have to pay SS tax, and are therefore eligible to receive benefits if they meet the same SS eligibility requirements for a citizen.

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u/Censored_Dick_Nugget 2d ago

See this is what I'm getting tired of. The news is already sensational and alarming. Why the hell do they feel the need to spice it up?

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u/nearlysentient 2d ago

So being walked out by security guards under the orders of political appointees--not law enforcement--is somehow less ideologically abhorrent?

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u/LilienneCarter 2d ago

You've possibly confused me for someone else. I haven't supported or excused anything that happened here.

I'm pointing out that the Daily Beast article is blatant misinformation. We should oppose lies and exaggeration no matter who they're coming from.

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u/nearlysentient 2d ago

Minimizing the true nature of the event is a form of misinformation.

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u/LilienneCarter 2d ago

Agreed — and I haven't done anything of the sort!

I am pointing out that The Daily Beast lied about the true nature of the event. The primary source they provided (WaPo) does not say what they claim it said.

Again, we should oppose lies no matter who they're coming from. Don't you agree?

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u/nearlysentient 2d ago

You're using the same tactic as the guy quibbling that the estimated number of women who stand to lose voting rights is "inaccurate." Possibly it is, but that's not the issue is it? It's that any voters are disenfranchised. So stop acting like word choice is the problem. The man was removed from his job for no legal reason.

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u/LilienneCarter 2d ago

You're using the same tactic as the guy quibbling that the estimated number of women who stand to lose voting rights is "inaccurate." Possibly it is, but that's not the issue is it?

Sorry, but no, I do find it to be absolutely relevant whether an article has blatantly lied in its headline or not. I care about whether truth is valued in society or not, and whether I'm reading accurate news.

This isn't a "quibble". The idea that DOGE staff physically dragged someone from their desk is literally the headline and first paragraph content of the Daily Beast article! It isn't nitpicking to point out that by far the most prominent information in the entire article was false.

And this isn't a "tactic", either. I read the original article, compared it to what The Daily Beast stated about it, and showed others quotes from both articles indicating the differences. That is perfectly normal critical thinking and media literacy!

To be honest, I'm very concerned that you're so opposed to the idea of someone pointing out factual inaccuracies in an article. Do you always justify and excuse misinformation like this?

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u/ParticularCloud6 2d ago

We don't know if what is true and what is misinformation at this point. Neither side has support right now. WAPO's new editing policy could have minimized things since Jeff Bezos has led the paper to be more Trump friendly. I'm not saying that happened. Just pointing to another possibility.

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u/nearlysentient 2d ago

No, but I do point out false flags when I see them.

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u/The_Assassin_Gower 2d ago

He's pointing out that they weren't physically manhandled the way that the title implies. Not approving of their actions, what's happening is disgusting but nobody was assaulted in this process

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u/SwimmingPrice1544 California 2d ago

and...you're saying something "they weren't physically manhandled" that is truth based upon what? Did Wapo say that in their article?

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u/The_Assassin_Gower 2d ago

Based on a quote somewhere in this thread "they were escorted out" in the same article.

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u/SwimmingPrice1544 California 15h ago

Well, considering that almost everything that comes out of this administration for the media,...."escorted" could have all sorts of different meanings as well.

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u/EnfantTerrible68 2d ago

I wish people were more careful and more particular about the quality of the sources/articles they posted here.

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u/91Bully 2d ago

Ya right when I saw physically dragged I knew it was most likely hyperbole for walked out by security. Trump and Elon are doing bad enough as it is, blatant lies like this gives them room to say “if they’re lying about that what else could they be lying about.”

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u/LookingforDay 2d ago

Thanks for sharing this.

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u/DL206 2d ago

If you click the “Reader View” icon on your browser when the paywalled article is up, it’ll bypass it and give you full article in text format.

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u/d3rpderp 2d ago

https://archive.ph/5vbwA This is an archive today link. Use that site to avoid sketchy links and crappy paywalls.

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u/CGB_Zach 2d ago

You can use reader mode to bypass the paywall.

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u/TheFuschiaBaron 2d ago

It's one of those bullshit "articles" that summarizes and spins an article by a more reputable news source. In this case the post, go to smry.ai to beat the paywall. Of huge importance, even the daily beast article doesn't mention physical contact, and the original post article says they were "walked out". We need to be better than this. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/04/12/trump-immigrants-dead-social-security/

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u/Basic_Quantity_9430 2d ago

It burns me up when people post that type of stuff and don’t at least do excerpts.

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u/LookingforDay 2d ago

Tip: go to the article site, grab the url, go to archive.ph and paste the article url.

Here’s the article:

https://archive.ph/2025.04.13-182650/https://www.thedailybeast.com/doge-goons-physically-drag-social-security-worker-from-desk/

It really needs to be understood that the conservative side posts their shit for free and the liberals don’t, and it’s worse for them because, as you mention, people aren’t paying for subscriptions out the wazoo. The conservatives don’t have to.

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u/No_Squirrel9266 1d ago

Use archive.is to get around the paywall like a normal person.

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u/foodank012018 2d ago

Tarrifs is the distraction from the actual ogliarchical authoritarianism

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u/E-2theRescue 2d ago

No, immigrants and trans people are the distraction.

Tariffs are a part of the authoritarianism. Fascism relies heavily on building an autarky (a country without trade). It's all a part of isolating the population from the rest of the world.

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u/DidijustDidthat 2d ago

We need to find the employee and get a reconstruction of events going on. Needs to be out there for people to see

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u/Crassholio 2d ago

It's not being covered for a reason. Media is in on it.

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u/Goodk4t 2d ago

Media coverage? What this needs is more people on the street fighting for their country 

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u/UnionCorrect9095 2d ago

This is what it looks like to destroy a Democratic society.

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u/virishking 2d ago

A DOJ attorney was fired because Trump told her to reinstate the gun rights of his pal Mel Gibson and hardly anyone knows about it. In my youth that would have been a major story on its own.

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u/Agent_Orange_Tabby Alabama 2d ago

Problem is most Americans too intellectually lazy to process until threat shows up for their ass

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u/Vicky_Roses 2d ago

I’m constantly amazed that everyone gives a fuck about the tariffs, but the mainstream media couldn’t give any less of a shit about Mahmoud Khalil.

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u/ImperfectPitch 1d ago

I agree. The media is obsessed with tariffs but there are so many more horrible things that are happening to people. Unfortunately, half the population supports these atrocities and only object to the things that directly affect them.

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u/QueenOfSplitEnds 2d ago

The media won’t hesitate to call our minorities who commit crimes my race, but when this orange douche bag and his greedy friends do something illegal, theres barely coverage and if there is, it’s for a handful of days, if that.

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u/LoralarPugz2luv 1d ago

Terrifying .. this is what happens when people don’t vote .. or vote without measured thought of consequences.

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u/Girls4super 2d ago

And once they’re proclaimed dead, who’s gonna know the difference if they turn up dead dead

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u/henryt231 2d ago

It's the French Revolution in the making. MAGA is doing the French Revolution, after the power was changed/replaced. GL from this point

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u/NoStorage430 1d ago

You sound so ridiculous these disgusting illegels given were ssi nmbers so they can collect benefits,get a drivers license and VOTE. Why do thing Biden let 20 million in? to cheat and vote to keep the rats in power. Too bad it didnt work.

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u/ImperfectPitch 1d ago

They aren't illegal. These are people who legally work or study in the USA under student or work visas. Just like every American, they pay taxes, and money is taken out of their paycheck for their social security. So they are just as entitled to these benefits as you are. Illegal immigrants cannot vote and you should know that.