A U.S. Federal Judge has imposed a new injunction that stops employees of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), currently working within the Social Security Administration (SSA), from obtaining the highly confidential personal details of countless US citizens. The decision follows a lawsuit leveled by several unions and retired individuals based in Maryland. The concerns these groups express over the type and amount of data DOGE has viewed and their potential applications, are reflected in a multitude of similar cases nationwide.
Judge Ellen Hollander, who issued the preliminary injunction, dedicated a comprehensive 148-page memorandum to explain her reasoning. She emphasized that the controversy didn’t revolve around the mission of DOGE or the SSA, but rather on their methodology. ‘The debate is not about what DOGE or the Agency want to accomplish. It’s about the manner in which they wish to proceed,’ Judge Hollander stated late last week.
She also recognized that rooting out corruption, excesses, and inefficient management within the SSA could serve public interests, a goal that DOGE has always highlighted. However, she stressed that the government must abide by the law when pursuing such initiatives. Hollander pointed out that ‘while eliminating potential fraud, waste, and mismanagement in the SSA is indeed a public concern, this does not provide the government with a carte blanche to ignore legal boundaries.’
A representative from the White House, speaking on behalf of the Social Security press office, indicated that they would challenge the ruling. They expressed their firm belief that the mandate given to the current administration by the American people to eliminate wasteful and fraudulent practices was clear and that they would continue their tirelessly in fulfilling this. ‘We will contest this verdict and anticipate a final victory over the matter. The electorate bestowed upon the current administration an unequivocal mandate to eradicate misuse and fraud in the government, and we will not back down from this battle,’ the representative stated.
Earlier, on March 20, Hollander laid down a temporary restraining order on the DOGE, questioning the agency’s discretion in using data that may reveal personally identifiable information and criticizing its overly broad approach as being ‘akin to using a sledgehammer to swat a fly.’ When the administration attempted to overturn Hollander’s temporary restraining order, a federal appeals court shunned their efforts.
Weeks after the first order, Hollander noted that the administration had not provided a satisfactory explanation for needing to permit a select group of employees ‘unparalleled, unchecked access to nearly the entirety of SSA’s data systems’ to root out misuse, scams, and inefficiencies. ‘In their quest to access personally identifiable information of millions of citizens that the SSA possesses, the DOGE team has obtained the SSA defendant’s consent. However, for approximately 90 years, the guiding principle behind SSA has been its respect for privacy concerning its records. This case highlights a glaring gap in these foundational principles,’ Hollander noted.
In response to DOGE members gaining access to the personally identifiable information in Social Security databases, the Acting Commissioner of the SSA proposed three projects critical to the DOGE team. Hollander, however, rejected these arguments as ‘ambiguous, contradictory, and lacking.’
Hollander’s latest decree hinders DOGE employees from accessing SSA databases filled with personal details. Furthermore, it instructs them to erase non-anonymized contents in their possession originating from those databases and to uninstall any software previously loaded onto SSA computers by DOGE staff. Lastly, the ruling prohibits them from accessing or modifying Social Security codes.
The directive, however, exempts non-DOGE SSA staff and DOGE members who wish to utilize anonymized data following the completion of proper privacy education. The president and head of Democracy Forward, an organization representing the unions and retirees associated with the case, declared the ruling as a ‘significant relief for millions of individuals who rely on the SSA to protect their most private and sensitive data.’
Persistent worries surround DOGE’s data access protocols. Numerous federal judges have identified probable breaches of legislation by DOGE’s endeavors to access confidential databases preserved by the federal government across multiple federal agencies, including the SSA.
The evolved concerns ignited further reactions recently when the lead Democrat in the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform expressed worries about the activities of DOGE within the SSA, informed by reports from whistleblowers. The prominent Democrat, Virginia Representative Gerry Connolly, requested a thorough investigation spearheaded by an SSA official investigator.
The SSA has tried to implement numerous modifications under the current leaders, including plans for substantial downsizing. However, worries regarding DOGE’s actions within the federal government persist. Moreover, just last week, a whistleblower at the National Labor Relations Board alleged that someone removed crucial case management information post the intrusion of DOGE in their system the previous month.