SSA can now replace stolen Social Security numbers for kids under 14
H.R. 5348 — Social Security Child Protection Act of 2025 · Filed by Lloyd Smucker (R-PA) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Sep 15, 2025 · Passed chamber
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What it does
This bill allows the Social Security Administration to issue a new Social Security number to children under 14 whose original number was compromised due to loss or theft of their Social Security card during delivery. A parent or guardian must submit evidence under penalty of perjury, and the SSA will track the original card's loss or theft in the child's records.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole operative mechanism is a narrow, protective remedy: authorizing SSN reissuance for children whose cards are compromised in transit. It is a targeted identity-protection measure, not a broad policy change or appropriation.
What the text implies
- The bill does not address compromises occurring AFTER card receipt (e.g., theft from home or school), limiting its scope to in-transit loss only.
- Reliance on parental sworn evidence under penalty of perjury creates a fraud-detection mechanism but may burden low-income or non-English-speaking families unfamiliar with formal affidavits.
- SSA record-keeping of compromised numbers may create a secondary database of at-risk children, with unclear retention and access policies.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Children whose Social Security cards are lost or stolen during delivery gain a concrete protective remedy—a new number—reducing their exposure to identity theft and fraud. The requirement for parental sworn evidence and SSA verification creates a reasonable safeguard against abuse, and the 180-day implementation window allows the agency to establish procedures.
Named in the bill
Social Security Administration, Commissioner of Social Security, Social Security Act § 205(c)(2)(B)
Where it stands
1 cosponsor: 1 Republicans.
- Sep 15, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Sep 15, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Ways and Means and Senate Committee on Finance · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means”
- Sep 17, 2025 — Markup held in committee · Congress.gov: “Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held”
- Sep 17, 2025 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Ordered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 43 - 1”
- Dec 1, 2025 — Passed the House · Congress.gov: “On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required)…”
- Dec 1, 2025 — Floor vote scheduled · Congress.gov: “Mr. Smith (MO) moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
1 lobbying clients named this bill on 1 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Dec 2025 to Dec 2025. Those filings disclosed $5,300,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 104 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 0% of bills with at least one filing.
Lloyd Smucker, the sponsor, reported $853,756 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- AARP — $5,300,000 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jan 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (1,433 characters) on Jul 2, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Dec 2025 to Dec 2025. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jan 20, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
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