Social Security Blocks Registration of Newborns at Hospitals in Maine and Deaths via Funeral Homes

The Social Security Administration announced that in Maine registering a newborn with SSA now requires a personal visit to SSA offices and can no longer be done at the hospital, and funeral homes in Maine can no longer electronically register deaths.

Since 1989, under the Enumeration at Birth process, about 99% of parents have registered their newborns for a Social Security number at the hospital after birth.

Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency,” a subset of a White House IT team rather than a department, lists termination of the EAB process in Arizona, Maryland, Michigan, New Mexico and Rhode Island on its website touting purported cost savings. Terminating EAB in Maine is not mentioned. Many purported savings listed on the website are presented with false information to inflate Musk’s claims.

The exceptional handling of EAB termination in Maine looks like it could be retaliation for Governor Janet Mills standing up to Donald Trump publicly in a recent White House gathering.

Acting Commissioner of the Social Security Administration Leland Dudek’s emails indicate:

• 27 February 2025, 15:30: A staffer with SSA warned Dudek that canceling the two contracts for managing enumeration at birth and electronic death registration in Maine would increase improper payments and create a risk of identity theft.
  27 February 2025, 19:09: Leland replied, ordering termination of the contracts anyway. “While our improper payments will go up, and fraudsters may compromise identities, no money will go from the public trust to a petulant child [Governor Mills].”

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