Trump Administration Requests Supreme Court Approval for DOGE Access to Social Security Data
A federal judge in March prohibited the Department of Government Efficiency from accessing personal data.
The Trump administration on Friday requested the U.S. Supreme Court to permit the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to access Social Security data, following a court’s ruling that blocked the Elon Musk-led task force from obtaining those records due to privacy concerns.
“Multiple agencies, including the SSA, the Departments of Treasury and Education, and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), have established DOGE-supported teams to aid this vital government initiative,” Sauer emphasized. “These teams require access to data within their designated agency to effectively scrutinize the government’s records.”
If the order from the lower court remains unchanged, “this preliminary injunction will only lead to increased judicial interference in internal agency decision-making,” he cautioned.
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DOGE, she noted, seems to be engaged in “a search for a proverbial needle in the haystack, lacking any concrete evidence that the needle is actually present.”
This approach entails “unrestricted access to the personal and private data of millions of Americans, which includes, but is not limited to, Social Security numbers, medical records, mental health records, hospitalization records, driver’s license numbers, bank and credit card information, tax returns, income history, employment history, birth and marriage certificates, and residential and work addresses,” Hollander elaborated.
The lawsuit was initially brought forth by a coalition of labor unions and retirees represented by Democracy Forward.
This appeal is part of a series of emergency requests submitted to the Supreme Court as the Trump administration faces approximately 200 lawsuits contesting various components of President Donald Trump’s policy agenda.
Musk and DOGE have been concentrating on Social Security as a claimed hub of fraud, asserting that curbing waste within the program is essential for its sustainability and for reducing government expenditure.
DOGE, established by Trump through an executive order in January, reported that it identified millions of supposed individuals aged 120 or older—some over 220 years old and one being 360 years old—listed as eligible for Social Security benefits. This prompted a statement from acting Social Security head Lee Dudek in February acknowledging their findings, clarifying that these individuals are not necessarily receiving benefits.
Trump administration attorneys indicated in a prior court session before Hollander that DOGE has a ten-member team at the SSA, with seven members granted read-only access to the agency’s systems containing personally identifiable information. Lawyers also mentioned that the staff have undergone privacy training, with eight passing background checks as of early this month.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
