Passed
386 Yea0 Nay45 Not voting2/3 required
HR-5348-119
Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Sponsored by Lloyd Smucker (R-PA)
What it does
This bill would amend the Social Security Act to allow the Commissioner of Social Security to issue a new Social Security number (SSN) to a child under age 14 when a parent or guardian demonstrates, under penalty of perjury, that the child's Social Security card was lost or stolen during mailing and the number's confidentiality was compromised. The Commissioner would record the reported loss or theft in the child's file. The change would take effect 180 days after enactment.
Who benefits
Children under 14 whose Social Security cards are lost or stolen in transit, protecting them from potential identity theft before it causes lasting financial harm. Parents and guardians of those children, who would gain a clear legal pathway to request a replacement number. Victims' advocates and child identity protection organizations. Financial institutions and credit bureaus that would benefit from more reliable identity records for minors. The Social Security Administration, which would have a formal process and documented record for these cases.
Who is hurt
The Social Security Administration would bear administrative costs of processing new number requests, updating records, and coordinating with other federal agencies that use SSNs. Federal agencies and private entities (employers, banks, schools) that maintain records tied to a child's original SSN would need to update those records when a new number is issued. Fraudsters who may have obtained a child's SSN through card theft would lose the ability to exploit that number. There is a small risk that the new process could be misused through false perjury declarations, potentially burdening SSA with fraudulent requests.
Supporters argue
Supporters argue that children are among the most vulnerable targets of identity theft precisely because their clean credit histories go unmonitored for years, allowing fraud to compound undetected. They contend that the current Social Security Act provides no clear mechanism to replace a child's SSN when a card is stolen in transit — a gap this bill closes with a narrow, evidence-based process that requires sworn statements and Commissioner review, minimizing abuse. Early intervention by replacing a compromised number before it is exploited, they argue, prevents the significant financial and legal harm that child identity theft victims face when they first apply for credit, student loans, or employment as adults.
Opponents argue
Opponents argue that issuing a new SSN creates its own complications, as the original number remains linked to the child's existing records across federal programs, tax filings, and private databases — meaning a replacement number does not fully eliminate fraud risk and may instead create confusion or gaps in the child's financial and benefits history. They contend that the bill's trigger — loss or theft of a card during transmission — is narrow to the point of being insufficient, leaving children whose numbers are compromised through data breaches, online exposure, or other means without a remedy. Critics may also argue that the perjury-declaration standard is difficult to verify and could be exploited, placing an administrative burden on the SSA without adequate funding or staffing provisions.
Constitutional context
No significant constitutional issue is raised by this bill. Congress has broad authority to administer and modify the Social Security program under the Spending Clause (Art. I, §8, cl. 1) and the Necessary and Proper Clause (Art. I, §8, cl. 18), and courts have consistently upheld congressional authority to set the terms of federal benefit and identification programs.
Checks and balances
Congress sets the eligibility criteria and process; the Commissioner of Social Security gains discretionary authority to evaluate evidence and issue new numbers, subject to the evidentiary and perjury-declaration requirements Congress specifies.
Historical precedent
The Social Security Act already permits SSN reissuance in limited circumstances (e.g., domestic violence victims, harassment cases), establishing a precedent for replacing numbers when safety or confidentiality is at risk; this bill extends that existing framework to a new, narrowly defined scenario.
Passed