Sources: DOGE aims to migrate all Social Security Administration's computer systems off COBOL in a matter of months, risking the integrity of the system
Social Security systems contain tens of millions of lines of code written in COBOL, an archaic programming language.
WiredMakena Kelly
Context & Ripple Effects
The reported timetable puts a long-running legacy-code problem inside a high-stakes public-benefits system. Related coverage has emphasized both the shrinking pool of COBOL expertise and the difficulty of repairing such systems under stress.
The Social Security Administration would have to redirect engineering, testing, and operational capacity toward replacing or translating tens of millions of lines of COBOL on a compressed schedule.
DOGE and SSA leadership would face immediate accountability for preserving benefit-processing accuracy and system availability while changing core infrastructure.
Second-order effects
A rushed migration would increase demand for scarce legacy-system knowledge alongside modern engineering and verification work; retaining institutional knowledge becomes as important as selecting replacement technology.
Service disruptions could push more claimants toward already constrained support channels, particularly if online systems become unreliable, as indicated by reports of repeated SSA website outages.
Third-order effects
If this approach becomes the model for federal modernization, agencies may increasingly treat legacy replacement as a rapid operational intervention rather than a staged reliability program—raising the premium on independent testing, rollback capability, and data-access controls.
The episode underscores a broader tension in public-sector technology: aging platforms create genuine modernization pressure, but their scale means speed can transfer risk from obsolete code to continuity, privacy, and public trust.
The trend: This is one data point in the collision between urgent government legacy-system modernization and the governance safeguards required for systems that administer essential services and sensitive data.
We are headed for a total rupture of the social contract.
@frydawolff
Fryda Wolff on bluesky
The same gamergate losers who said they could make better games in half the time with no money are now doing this. Because AI. — Anyway there's some rhyme in there about devs now plotting to make games mostly using AI assets. [embedded post]
@martinsfp
@martinsfp on bluesky
On the upside, the DOGE kids are going to learn some hard lessons about public sector IT projects. [embedded post]
@simonwillison.net
Simon Willison on bluesky
Tell me your team is entirely comprised of over-confident twenty-somethings without telling me your team is entirely comprised of over-confident twenty-somethings [embedded post]
@katie-drummond
Katie Drummond on bluesky
NEW: DOGE is planning to migrate the Social Security Administration codebase to a new programming language. — This would normally take years. DOGE wants it done in months. That could put benefits for millions of Americans at risk. — Scoop from @makenakelly.bsky.social — w…
@leahfeiger
Leah Feiger on bluesky
NEW: DOGE plans to rebuild the Social Security Administration codebase in months, risking benefits and system collapse. — read @makenakelly.bsky.social:
@timmarchman
Tim Marchman on bluesky
NEW: Social Security runs on an ancient rat's nest of code. DOGE wants it all rewritten in a matter of months—something that could probably only be done using AI and that experts warn would put benefits and the system itself at risk of collapse. This is by @makenakelly.bsky.soc…
@makenakelly
Makena Kelly on bluesky
SCOOP: DOGE wants to rebuild SSA's codebase in months, risking benefits and system collapse, sources tell me. — The plan is to migrate all systems off COBOL quickly which would likely require the use of generative AI. — www.wired.com/story/doge-r...
@rogelin@mastodon.social
@rogelin@mastodon.social on mastodon
@Techmeme I was a COBOL/ASM developer for 6 years... Migrate a huge system in months?! — Good look, pal.
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