The House of Representatives narrowly voted to allow President Donald Trump to continue Operation Epic Fury in Iran on Thursday.

A bipartisan resolution led by Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Ro Khanna, D-Calif., failed to pass after several Democrats joined most Republicans in sinking it. 

The legislation was aimed at blocking Trump from using the Armed Forces in the joint U.S.-Israeli operation in Iran, which would likely force the strikes to grind to a halt.

The Trump administration, as well as the majority of Republicans in Congress, have insisted that the president has acted within his authority so far and are hopeful he will continue to do so.

But Democrats, along with Massie and Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, are largely skeptical.

‘The Ayatollah was not a president. He was a religious leader from a region notorious for radical Islamists and the United States and Israel turned him into a martyr,’ Massie said during debate on the resolution. ‘If Congress wants war, then the speaker should hold a vote to declare it.’

Davidson said Wednesday, ‘The moral hazard posed by a government no longer constrained by our Constitution is a grave threat.’

Other Republican lawmakers said they were concerned that handicapping the operation now could do more harm than good.

‘I think the president is well within his legal authorities to conduct this operation,’ Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., told Fox News Digital on Tuesday. ‘I think any effort to stymie that would actually jeopardize our national security and jeopardize our troops.’ 

Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, R-Pa., told Fox News Digital, ‘I’ll be voting no, against the War Powers Act, because once the president has taken that action, that first action, if we were to pull back, it would actually leave us more vulnerable and less safe by leaving all of their capabilities in place, but having started a conflict like this.’

U.S. officials have said their targets remain Iran’s military assets, senior leadership, and nuclear capabilities. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth told reporters this week that the operation will have a finite timeline.

But Democrats are accusing Trump of plunging the U.S. into a seemingly endless conflict while running roughshod over Congress’ Article I authority.

‘Donald Trump has taken America to war without authorization, without explanation, without a strategy or an exit plan. Six brave service members have already given the ultimate sacrifice,’ House Minority Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., said on Wednesday.

The Thursday vote comes a day after the Senate shot down a resolution from Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., aimed at limiting Trump’s military actions in Iran following days of speculation about whether Republicans would cross the aisle — as they have done before — to reprimand the president.

Only Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., voted in favor of the resolution among Republicans, while Sen. Jon Fetterman, D-Pa., was the lone Democrat to cross the aisle in support.

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Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., will have at least one Democratic ‘yes’ vote in support of his nomination to become President Donald Trump’s next Department of Homeland Security (DHS) secretary. 

Trump announced Thursday afternoon that he tapped Mullin to replace outgoing DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, who will leave the agency March 31. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., immediately threw his support behind Mullin’s nomination, dubbing the Oklahoma lawmaker a ‘nice upgrade’ compared to Noem. 

Fetterman repeatedly called for Noem’s ouster and said Thursday he was pleased with Trump’s decision. 

‘We’re in a different party, but this is the choice. I want to work together for making our America more secure,’ he said. 

Fetterman also said that he strongly believes Mullin already has the votes to win confirmation. Senate Republicans are widely expected to back Mullin’s nomination, and the jovial Oklahoma lawmaker could win over some Democrats. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who has voted against some Trump nominees, said she has a ‘great deal of respect’ for Mullin and is ‘OK’ with his nomination.

Under Senate rules, cabinet nominations are set at a 51-vote threshold. 

However, many of Fetterman’s Democratic colleagues were either noncommittal about Mullin’s nomination or suggested they would not support him.

‘Whoever follows Kristi Noem is going to have to be totally and radically different in their approach to running this agency,’ Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said Thursday. ‘Changing the person at the top is no substitute for changing the practices and the power structure of a department that is out of control.’

Blumenthal added that Mullin would have to commit to Democrats’ various reforms seeking to rein in immigration enforcement in order to win his vote. 

Mullin has repeatedly criticized Democrats’ proposal to prohibit federal immigration officers from wearing masks and requiring judicial warrants during enforcement operations.

‘I like him personally,’ Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, a member of Senate Democratic leadership, said of Mullin before adding that it was too early to debate his nomination.

Sens. Jack Reed, D-R.I., and Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., told Fox News Digital that they would not yet weigh in on Mullin’s nomination. Slotkin notably voted for Noem’s confirmation despite later souring on the secretary.

Mullin appeared somewhat taken aback by the news of his nomination when talking with reporters outside the U.S. Capitol on Thursday afternoon.

‘No, the president and I still have to communicate, so we’ll talk about it moving forward,’ Mullin said. ‘The president and I have already talked … I’ll talk to you all [later].’

Fetterman has been the lone Democrat to advance a DHS spending measure amid a funding standoff over the agency’s appropriations that has no clear end in sight.

He poured cold water on the prospect of his Democratic colleagues reversing course to support funding DHS in response to Mullin’s nomination, telling reporters he expected ‘no change’ with the partial shutdown.

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Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby faced tough questions Thursday about President Donald Trump’s previous statements about war with Iran. 

While Colby was testifying before the House Armed Services Committee, the Democratic ranking member said that the president broke his campaign promise.

Colby appeared before the House Armed Services Committee on Thursday to testify about the recently-released 2026 National Defense Strategy (NDS). Several lawmakers focused on the U.S.’s Operation Epic Fury, as U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran continue.

‘When President Trump was running for office, he said over and over and over again, ‘I’m not going to do wars.’ In fact, he very specifically said, ‘If I’m president, we will not go to war with Iran.’ And here we are. So I’m genuinely curious what changed? What changed from when he was a candidate to when he was in office?’ Ranking Member Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., said.

Smith later asked Colby the question, saying that Trump had routinely implied that ‘his mere presence and his policies’ could prevent wars as part of his ‘America First agenda.’ The lawmaker then wondered how that agenda allegedly failed in Iran.

‘I think the president sincerely meant that. He sincerely meant, ‘you put me in office, I’m going to do things to make sure that we don’t go to war with Iran.’ He failed. We’re at war with Iran,’ Smith said.

Colby pushed back, saying he did not think that the agenda had failed in Iran, noting Trump’s consistency in opposing Iran’s development of nuclear weapons. However, the ranking member would not accept that answer and retorted, once again bringing up the president’s statements about not going to war.

The Pentagon policy chief later brought up the president’s commitment to ‘peace through strength,’ citing the peace deals Trump has struck, such as the one in Gaza, as examples of ‘peace’ and saying that what was happening in Iran was the ‘strength’ part.

The lawmaker accepted Colby’s answer as ‘solid enough’ before saying that there was ‘no question that he failed’ in light of the launch of Operation Epic Fury.

Colby was not the only one to refute the argument that Trump broke promises by acting in Iran. Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., said that under Trump’s leadership, ‘we’re preventing endless wars.’ 

Another lawmaker, Rep. Richard McCormick, R-Ga., asked Colby whether he would consider what is happening in Iran to be ‘a forever war,’ to which the Pentagon official said, ‘No, sir.’

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment on Thursday.

Throughout his presidential campaign, Trump said that he would not drag the U.S. into endless wars and also spoke against Iran having a nuclear weapon. 

On Wednesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt refuted what she described as ‘fake news headlines’ suggesting U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran were unjustifiable. She told reporters at the first White House press briefing since Operation Epic Fury began that Iran ‘is a rogue terrorist regime that has been threatening the United States, our allies and our people for 47 years.’

‘The American people are smart enough to know that. And they’ve also been smart enough to listen to the president himself, not just over the past year in this second term, but during his first term as president, and also for the past 40 years of his life,’ Leavitt said. ‘This is a president who has been remarkably consistent on this issue, that Iran can never obtain a nuclear weapon. And the president tried peace through diplomacy exhaustively and extensively.’

‘He and his team gave it their best go, and the president ultimately came to the determination of that peace was not a suitable path,’ she said. ‘The Iranian regime, they want death. They want destruction. They want to kill Americans. And that’s unacceptable to this president. It’s intolerable to him as commander in chief.’

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Minnesota Republican Senate candidate Michele Tafoya slammed Gov. Tim Walz’s testimony on the massive fraud scandal roiling Minnesota during a contentious House hearing on Wednesday and outlined her plan to combat fraud, which she says voters have been clamoring about on the campaign trial. 

House Oversight Committee Republicans grilled Walz over allegations he knowingly permitted the sprawling fraud scheme to continue under his watch despite repeated warnings from whistleblowers. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison also testified under oath at the hearing. 

‘Seeing Tim Walz testify today on fraud was everything I expected it to be: dodging, giving answers that were incomplete, not having information at his disposal, simply kind of passing the buck and taking credit for people behind bars that really he had nothing to do with,’ Tafoya told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview Wednesday.

‘This is par for the course for Tim Walz,’ Tafoya said. ‘This is why he is no longer running for governor for a third term. It was more of the same. Same with A.G. Keith Ellison.’

Tafoya, a longtime former NFL sideline reporter, recently launched a campaign for Minnesota’s open Democratic-held Senate seat. She is vowing to crack down on the fraud scheme involving the state’s welfare programs, which unfolded during the tenure of Walz and his deputy, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan. Tafoya could face Flanagan, a progressive Democrat running for the state’s open Senate seat, in the November general election.

Federal prosecutors allege fraudsters stole as much as $9 billion in taxpayer money and have charged nearly 100 individuals in various Minnesota fraud-related cases, mostly of whom are of Somali descent.

Fox News Digital exclusively obtained a three-part anti-fraud plan from Tafoya’s campaign, which she is promising to enact if elected to the Senate in November.

Tafoya said she would cosponsor the Deporting Fraudsters Act, which would allow for noncitizens who are convicted of fraud to be deported and barred from entering the United States. Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, R-Tex., and Mike Lee, R-Utah, introduced the legislation in 2025, but the bill has since stalled in the Senate.

 ‘If you are an immigrant in this country, you are a guest of this country, and you are convicted of defrauding the American people, you will be deported,’ Tafoya said. 

Tafoya is also pledging to crack down on Americans convicted of stealing taxpayer money. She told Fox News Digital that she would work to enact new mandatory minimum sentences for those involved in fraud schemes. 

‘This is not a second-class crime anymore,’ the Minnesota Republican added. ‘This deserves the full weight of the law.’

Thirdly, Tafoya voiced support for the Trump administration’s recent moves to temporarily halt hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to states that fail to implement anti-fraud controls. 

The Trump administration recently announced it would withhold roughly $260 million in Medicaid funding to Minnesota until the state government puts guardrails in place to eliminate fraud. Federal officials have said the state could see more than $1 billion in deferred payments if Walz fails to comply with the president’s ‘war on fraud.’

Though Minnesota voters tend to favor Democrats at the federal level, Tafoya argued the fraud scandal gives Republicans an opening to flip the seat. Senate Republicans are also targeting Democratic-held seats in Georgia, Michigan and New Hampshire during the midterms. 

‘When I go and talk to people around the state of Minnesota and the word fraud comes up, there is an audible sort of hum or roar of disapproval,’ Tafoya said. ‘People are sick to their stomach over it, and I think it really is driving people to the polls this November.’

Tafoya, who is backed by Senate Republicans’ campaign arm, is expected to cruise to the general election despite facing a crowded field of candidates. On the Democratic side, Flanagan and Rep. Angie Craig are engaged in a bitter fight for the party’s nomination ahead of the August primary.

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Kristi Noem, the former South Dakota congresswoman and governor who has led President Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security in his second term, was ousted from her position on Thursday.

President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that he will nominate Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., to replace Noem, effective March 31.

‘The current Secretary, Kristi Noem, who has served us well, and has had numerous and spectacular results (especially on the Border!), will be moving to be Special Envoy for The Shield of the Americas, our new Security Initiative in the Western Hemisphere we are announcing on Saturday in Doral, Florida. I thank Kristi for her service at ‘Homeland.’’

Trump said Mullin has done a ‘tremendous job’ in Congress and cited his resume as a former undefeated MMA fighter.

‘As the only Native American in the Senate, Markwayne is a fantastic advocate for our incredible Tribal Communities. Markwayne will work tirelessly to Keep our Border Secure, Stop Migrant Crime, Murderers, and other Criminals from illegally entering our Country, End the Scourge of Illegal Drugs and, MAKE AMERICA SAFE AGAIN,’ Trump said.

Mullin is the first Native American senator in decades, following Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell of Colorado.

Noem, 54, will likely be at least temporarily replaced by Deputy Secretary Troy Edgar, a Navy veteran and former mayor of Los Alamitos, California, in the line of succession for the agency.

Noem’s tenure marked a distinct reversal of the open-border policies permitted by predecessor Alejandro Mayorkas during the Biden administration, and DHS has notched record drug interdictions totaling more than half a million pounds of illegal drugs in her first year.

Her management of Trump’s mass deportation agenda has also led to more than 2 million reported self-deportations in 2025 and about 670,000 removals of illegal immigrants, a figure supporters have hailed as the most successful immigration enforcement operation in history.

Her agency has also been unafraid to hit back at high-profile critics, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom; Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif.; Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz; and 2026 midterm candidate David Trone of Maryland, who accused DHS of ‘executing people in the streets’ as he filmed a protest ad outside a Williamsport compound recently purchased for use as a detention facility.

Such criticisms of her mass deportation operations, particularly in Minneapolis, appeared to somewhat sour public sentiment on the administration’s handling of the immigration issue, as U.S. Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino — a DHS subordinate — was replaced in the Twin Cities by border czar Tom Homan amid the firestorm.

Meanwhile, reports surfaced Thursday that Trump is ‘furious’ with Noem over her performance in bicameral Judiciary Committee hearings this week, particularly over a contract for an advertisement that Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., and others grilled her on.

Trump reportedly took issue with her suggesting to Kennedy that he approved a taxpayer-funded ad subcontracted to a firm connected with her inner circle, according to National Review, which also reported that Mullin was being considered a top candidate for her replacement.

A White House official confirmed to Fox News that Trump did not know about the ad and did not approve it, despite her claims to the contrary at the hearings.

‘It was a combination of her many unfortunate leadership failures. From [Minnesota] to the ad campaign to the allegations of an affair,’ a source familiar with the situation told Fox News.

When confronted by reporters on the Capitol steps, Mullin indicated he had only short notice of Trump’s decision to pick him as Noem’s successor.

‘No, the president and I still have to communicate so we’ll talk about it moving forward,’ Mullin said. ‘The president and I have already talked – We have to talk to the president and get on the same page… I’ll talk to you all [later].’

In Wednesday’s House hearing, Noem was questioned by Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, D-Calif., over rumors of an affair with DHS ‘special government employee’ Corey Lewandowski, a top figure in Trump’s 2016 campaign.

Noem criticized Kamlager-Dove in response, as her husband, insurance company owner and former South Dakota first gentleman Bryon Noem, sat just feet behind her.

Kamlager-Dove asked Noem if at any time during her tenure she had ‘sexual relations with Corey Lewandowski,’ before slamming the longtime Trump aide as a ‘failed campaign manager’ and someone lacking military experience.

Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., followed up, pressing Noem on Lewandowski while wearing a Justice for Cricket pin, referencing the dog Noem once wrote she had to euthanize on her farm.

‘I really think you need to say the word ‘no’ into the record so that you can clear that up,’ Moskowitz said.

Noem pushed back hard on both Democrats, saying what they were implying is ‘offensive’ and telling Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, that she was ‘shocked that we’re going down and peddling this tabloid garbage in this committee today.’

‘The socialist, liberal left: you go off and you attack conservative women and you say that we’re either stupid or we’re sluts. That’s what you do. And I will tell you sir… I am neither of those,’ Noem fumed at Moskowitz.

Through the recent turmoil, many Republicans remained highly complimentary of Noem’s tenure.

Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., a former law enforcement officer himself, said during the hearing that he was ’embarrassed by the antics of my colleagues across the aisle.’

‘Madam Secretary, you inherited a disaster, and you turned it around. An astonishing 97% decrease in illegal crossings isn’t a coincidence; it’s leadership. Know that this committee has your back,’ Higgins said.

When Swalwell pressed her on the ad campaign and contract, Noem shot back that while the Alameda Democrat was ‘focusing on photo-ops and luxury jets, I’m focused on the fact that the Coast Guard might not get paid because your party is choosing not to fund them.’

Fox News’ Jacqui Heinrich contributed to this report.

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The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) released audio on Thursday of a civilian in Tehran describing what it’s like on the ground as Operation Epic Fury rocks Iran.

‘To us here, the war did not start four days ago. It started when we heard the initial news of a piling up of the forces in the region and preparations for war. Now, with the war going on, we hear constant explosions and there is no respite from this,’ the unidentified civilian said.

The civilian said that the frequency of explosions has made people so nervous that even everyday noises can cause panic attacks.

‘Any moment you can expect a loud noise. This has made us so nervous that any loud noise, including the noise of a car passing by, gives us a panic attack,’ the civilian said.

Even with the noise of the explosions, what the civilian, who said he was born and raised in Tehran, noticed was that the city has become a ghost town as people have either fled the war or limited movements in order to stay safe from aerial attacks.

‘As a person who was born and lived his whole life in this city, I have never seen the city so quiet,’ the civilian said. ‘Some of the people of my city have left, many others stayed in, trying to limit movements to avoid getting caught in the aerial attacks on the city that never seem to come to an end. You don’t see people around. My city was a very big city and busy. I’m not used to seeing my city so calm and quiet.’

The U.S. and Israel have carried out air and sea attacks on Iran since the operation began on Saturday. The operation has killed at least 1,230 people in Iran, according to The Associated Press. Additionally, six U.S. service members in Kuwait were killed in the hostilities.

The ICRC has expressed concerns about the situation in Iran, with the organization’s president saying on day one of Operation Epic Fury that it could lead to ‘devastating consequences for civilians.’

‘The military escalation in the Middle East is igniting a dangerous chain reaction across the region, with potentially devastating consequences for civilians,’ ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric said.

In a statement issued a few days later, Spoljaric warned that ‘the scale of major military operations flaring across the Middle East risks embroiling the region – and beyond – into another large-scale armed conflict that will overwhelm any humanitarian response.’

‘Without urgent steps to de-escalate the situation and respect the rules of war, further civilian lives will be lost,’ Spoljaric added. ‘Civilians are already suffering the consequences of war.’

According to the civilian, Iranians on the ground are worried about the future and wonder how the war will play out. Another fear among the people is the possibility of supplies running out.

‘The supplies are available in the shops that are open and work. But what if the situation gets worse or continues as it is now? Will the supplies being stocked be of any help, or they will be meaningless in the face of what can happen?’ the civilian wondered. ‘It is especially more worrying for people like me, who have to take care of people with medical complications that require special care. We are now under a lot of stress, worried to see what can come next.’ 

Fox News Digital reached out to ICRC for comment.

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Senate Democrats again blocked Republicans’ attempt to reopen the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as background negotiations appear to have fizzled out.

It came just minutes after Kristi Noem, the former South Dakota congresswoman and governor who led President Donald Trump’s DHS in his second term, was ousted from her position on Wednesday.

The agency has been shuttered for nearly three weeks, and Democrats’ latest rejection of a full-year funding bill likely ensures that the closure extends into a fourth week.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his caucus remained dug in on their position that unless the White House caters to their list of reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), they wouldn’t play ball.

‘It’s very easy for them to get all of this funded — simply agree to our common-sense proposals on ICE and Border Patrol,’ Schumer said before the vote. ‘These are proposals. What we’ve asked for is what every police force does in terms of our negotiations. Look, we’re still far apart, but we’re still negotiating and exchanging paper back and forth.’

The vote came moments after Trump announced he would nominate Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., to replace Noem as the new DHS chief, following reports that Trump was ‘furious’ with her performance in bicameral Judiciary Committee hearings this week.

Meanwhile, Trump’s Operation Epic Fury has taken center stage in the upper chamber, with a Democratic push to rein in his war authorities in the Middle East hitting a red wall of Republican resistance on Wednesday.

And as the strikes continue, it has spurred calls from Senate Republicans to fund the agency as concerns over retaliation on American soil increase.

‘Look, I’m not going to vote to fund Ice and let them detain, brutalize, shoot, or kill more American citizens just because Donald Trump started an unconstitutional war that no one asked for,’ Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said.

The House is expected to vote on a slightly modified version of the DHS funding bill later in the day, which is expected to pass in the lower chamber. Even if it does, given the current political standoff, it would likely go nowhere in the Senate. 

The last offer made public by either side came last Friday, when the White House sent congressional Democrats what officials called a ‘serious’ counter-proposal. While it appeared that progress was being made after a week of silence, Schumer and Democrats still weren’t satisfied.

A frustrated Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., noted that Democrats had ‘rebuffed’ Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., whom he anointed to run point for the GOP in negotiations, after repeated attempts to reach out to their counterparts.

He also charged that it appeared the decision to ignore Britt and Republicans was coming from Schumer.

‘I would say, beyond not engaging, they are just flat rejecting any chance to sit down and actually talk about it,’ Thune said. ‘And that seems to be coming from the top.’

‘I think they see this as politically advantageous to them, but this is a posture they’ve adopted which has become increasingly clear — it is just a flat-out unwillingness to try and solve this problem or fund the department,’ he continued. ‘At some point, something bad is going to happen.’

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Some Social Security number requests are not optional. Federal reporting systems rely on the SSN as a primary identifier.

Employment offers the clearest example. Employers collect your SSN to report wages and file taxes, including Form W-2 submissions. The Social Security Administration credits your earnings record with it. The IRS uses it to match payroll taxes with reported income. Federal agencies also require your SSN when you apply for certain benefits or meet tax obligations. If you refuse to provide your SSN in these situations, you can delay processing or lose access to services.

However, not every form carries that authority. Landlords, medical offices, schools, gyms and retailers often include an SSN field by default. In those cases, ask why they need it and whether another identifier will work. So how do you tell when your SSN is truly required and when you can push back?

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Examples of when you need to share your SSN

Certain U.S. laws and federal regulations require an SSN because it functions as the official taxpayer or benefits identifier.

The IRS requires individuals who qualify for an SSN to use it as their taxpayer identification number on Form 1040 and related filings. The IRS uses the number to match income statements, credits and refunds to the correct taxpayer record.

IRS regulations require employers to include each employee’s SSN on Form W-2. Employers submit the form to both the IRS and the SSA so agencies can record earnings and reconcile payroll taxes.

Applications for Social Security benefits require an SSN so the SSA can retrieve the applicant’s earnings history and calculate eligibility and payment amounts.

U.S. citizens and eligible noncitizens applying for federal student aid must provide a valid SSN on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The number is verified against SSA records during processing.

Financial institutions must obtain a taxpayer identification number — usually an SSN for individuals — to report interest income to the IRS on Form 1099-INT.

In each of these cases, the requirement stems from tax administration statutes or federal benefits law. The SSN is used to link records across agencies and systems.

When you don’t need to share your SSN

Beyond tax filings, wage reporting and federal benefits, many SSN requests come from internal company policy rather than statute. Private businesses are generally allowed to ask for your SSN. In most everyday transactions, there is no federal law forcing you to provide it.

Landlords often request an SSN to run credit checks. Federal housing law does not mandate collecting a tenant’s SSN to lease property. Screening is conducted through consumer reporting agencies, and alternative verification methods may be available.

Healthcare providers routinely include an SSN field. Federal law does not require patients to disclose an SSN for treatment. Since 2018, Medicare cards have used randomized beneficiary identifiers instead of SSNs. These Medicare Beneficiary Identifiers (MBI) don’t include your SSN.

Public schools may request a student’s SSN, but students cannot be denied enrollment for refusing to provide one. Institutions tend to assign their own identification numbers.

Power companies, mobile carriers and gyms sometimes request an SSN to evaluate credit risk or secure payment agreements. This is a risk management choice, not a statutory requirement.

In these cases, the request may feel routine. The legal footing is different from tax or benefits administration. You can ask what authority requires it and whether another form of identification will suffice.

What to ask before you hand over your SSN

If the request comes from a government agency, look for a Privacy Act disclosure statement. Federal law requires agencies to state whether providing your SSN is mandatory or voluntary, cite the legal authority for the request, and explain how it will be used. If the request comes from a private company, ask direct questions:

Is this required by federal or state law?

What will the SSN be used for?

Can you accept the last four digits instead?

Is there an alternative way to verify identity?

You can also ask how the number will be stored, whether it is encrypted and who has access to it. Collecting only what is necessary is a recognized security practice, but not every organization follows it.

What actually happens when your SSN is leaked

A leaked or stolen SSN can be used anywhere that number is treated as proof of identity.

In tax administration, the IRS processes returns based on the SSN attached to them. If a fraudulent return is filed first, the legitimate taxpayer’s electronic filing may be rejected because the number has already been used. Fixing it means paper filing and identity verification while the IRS reviews the case. The agency’s Identity Protection PIN program was introduced after years of SSN-based tax fraud.

Credit reporting works the same way. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act framework, credit bureaus use the SSN to build and match consumer files. If credit is issued using your SSN, that account can attach to your report until you dispute it. It stays there while bureaus and lenders investigate.

Federal benefit systems also depend on the number. The SSA warns that criminals use stolen SSNs to impersonate beneficiaries and create fraudulent online accounts. An SSN does not expire or reset. Once exposed, it can continue appearing in tax filings, credit applications, or benefit records until you flag it.

How identity monitoring services help you respond faster

Identity monitoring services attempt to detect suspicious activity tied to your personal information as early as possible. Many services track credit activity across all three major U.S. bureaus and alert you to new inquiries, accounts and report changes. Some also scan known data breach datasets for exposed identifiers, including Social Security numbers.

Certain plans include identity theft insurance to cover eligible recovery costs, along with fraud resolution support to guide you through disputes and paperwork if something goes wrong.

No service can prevent every type of identity theft. The real value is early warning, knowing when and where your SSN is being used so you can act quickly before damage spreads.

How to check if your personal information was exposed

If you are unsure whether your personal information has been compromised, take action. Start with a reputable breach scan to see whether your email or other identifiers appear in known leaks. Early detection gives you more control and helps you respond before fraud escalates.

See my tips and best picks on Best Identity Theft Protection at Cyberguy.com.

Kurt’s key takeaways

Lawmakers created the Social Security number to track earnings and administer benefits, not to unlock every part of your life. Yet today, many companies treat it like a universal key. In some situations, you must provide your SSN. Taxes, employment and federal benefits depend on it. However, many everyday requests come from internal company policies, not federal law. That distinction matters. Before you share your number, pause and ask why the business needs it. Ask how they store it. Ask whether another form of identification will work. Small questions can prevent big problems. If someone has exposed your SSN, act quickly. Monitor your credit. Set up alerts. Report suspicious activity right away. Early action limits damage and protects your identity. Your Social Security number does not change. But you control when, where and how you share it.

Have you ever been asked for your Social Security number in a situation that didn’t feel necessary, and did you push back? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com.

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