Dr. Mehmet Oz, who is President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, may have “significantly underpaid his Social Security and Medicare taxes” in recent years,

Senate Finance Committee Democratic tax staff who reviewed Mehmet Oz’s tax returns said the nominee to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services avoided paying some Medicare and Social Security taxes over three years.

The memo created by Democratic staff on the Senate Finance Committee comes as Oz is expected to face the panel on Friday for a confirmation hearing.

The Washington Post published an article (archived) titled "Social Security, facing pressure from DOGE, weighs big cuts to phone service." The story alleged that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative championed by Elon Musk was attempting to push the Social Security Administration (SSA) to cut its telephone service for claims processing and direct deposit transactions.

The Social Security Administration said Wednesday it is eliminating telephone service for direct-deposit account transactions. The agency said the move is meant to eliminate the risk of fraud associated with changing bank-account information by telephone.