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from the article.

"... Of the more than 50 people who have joined Mr. Musk in Washington, almost none have as extensive a history with him as Mr. Gracias. The men met around two decades ago and in that time, Mr. Gracias has become one of Mr. Musk’s most trusted advisers...

... Nine DOGE members have arrived at the Social Security Administration in recent days. They include Mr. Gracias and two other men who work at his investment firm, Valor Equity Partners — Jon Koval, a vice president on the investment team, and Payton Rehling, a data engineer — according to documents seen by The Times.

But he said that he and his team at Valor had been scrutinizing audits of the Social Security Administration and that he had been alarmed by the size of its so-called trust funds, government accounts created to make sure Americans receive their full benefits. Mr. Gracias said he believed this showed there were “material weaknesses” in the system.

Some Republicans have suggested that the government could repurpose cash from the Social Security trust funds, which grew over decades as Americans paid more taxes into the program than they took out in benefits. But now, as Americans now take out more in benefits than they pay in taxes, Social Security has been depleting the trust funds — which consist of bonds earmarked for funding benefits. In short, the funds have no such cash available to repurpose..."