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The Social Security Administration admits it made a mistake that caused a lot of confusion over whether parents could register their newborns after hospital births in several states, including Maryland.
A process called Enumeration at Birth (EAB) allows new parents to submit applications for Social Security numbers for their newborns as part of the hospital birth registration process. EAB has been around since 1989. According to the agency, 99% of parents use it, rather than having to register in person at an SSA office.
Social Security Administration (SSA) Acting Commissioner Lee Dudek says he recently directed employees to end the contract that allows the program in Maine, although he did not provide any reason behind the decision.
At least five other states, including Maryland — but not Maine — show similar cancelled contracts on the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) website touting savings by Elon Musk’s team.
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However, that decision has now been reversed, according to the agency.
After we reached out to the SSA, a spokesperson released a statement from Dudek saying: “I recently directed Social Security employees to end two contracts which affected the good people of the state of Maine. The two contracts are Enumeration at Birth (EAB), which helps new parents quickly request a Social Security number and card for their newborn before leaving the hospital, and Electronic Death Registry (EDR) which shares recorded deaths with Social Security. In retrospect, I realize that ending these contracts created an undue burden on the people of Maine, which was not the intent. For that, I apologize and have directed that both contracts be immediately reinstated.”
Dudek went on to say that EAB and EDR continue in place for every state and were not affected.
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“As a leader, I will admit my mistakes and make them right,” he said.
However, the DOGE website still shows five states as having terminated contracts: Maryland, Arizona, Michigan, New Mexico and Rhode Island. It wasn’t immediately clear why these states were listed on the site.
News4 reached out to the White House for any comment.
A spokesperson for the Maryland Department of Health is also looking into the matter.
We’ll provide any updates as we get them.
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