How COVID-19 deaths impacted Social Security

We start today’s show with a grim reality: New research finds that the COVID-19 pandemic led to so many deaths — of people who would have withdrawn retirement benefits — that it resulted in a $205 billion net increase in the nation’s Social Security fund. Plus, a new lawsuit is trying to keep DOGE out of America’s tax returns, and the NAACP is calling for Black consumers to leverage their purchasing power.