Federal judge considers blocking DOGE from accessing Social Security data of millions of Americans

BALTIMORE (AP) — A federal judge is considering whether to temporarily block Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency from accessing Social Security Administration systems that hold sensitive data on millions of Americans.

A group of labor unions and retirees sued the Trump administration and asked the court to issue an emergency order limiting DOGE’s access to the agency and its data.

DOGE’s “nearly unlimited” access violates privacy laws and presents massive information security risks, they said. A recently departed Social Security official who saw the DOGE team sweep into the agency said she is deeply worried about sensitive information being exposed.

The administration has said DOGE is targeting waste and fraud in the federal government.

During a Friday hearing on the issue in federal court in Baltimore, U.S. District Judge Ellen Hollander repeatedly questioned attorneys for the government about why the DOGE team needed such a large quantity of sensitive personal information about Social Security recipients, including health records for disability applicants. She questioned whether a more targeted approach would allow DOGE to uncover improper payments without accessing so much data.

“This is like hitting a fly with a sledgehammer,” she said of the Trump administration’s approach.

While alluding to technical issues that could affect her ruling, the judge said she was struggling to understand why DOGE’s actions were necessary, calling them “extremely worrisome and surprising.”

“What’s the excuse for that — or the justification?” she asked.

The Trump administration says DOGE has a 10-person team of federal employees at the Social Security Administration, seven of whom have been granted read-only access to agency systems or personally identifiable information. They have received privacy training, and eight had passed background checks as of Wednesday, government lawyers said in court documents.

They argued in court that the DOGE access doesn’t deviate significantly from normal practices inside the agency, where employees and auditors are routinely allowed to search its databases.

But attorneys for the plaintiffs called it unprecedented.

“This is, in fact, a sea change” in terms of how the agency protects personal information, said Alethea Anne Swift, an attorney with the legal services group Democracy Forward, which is behind the lawsuit.

Outside the courthouse ahead of the hearing, dozens of union workers and retirees rallied in support of the plaintiffs and expressed concern over whether their Social Security benefits are at risk.

“We want Elon Musk and the DOGE group to take their hands off Social Security,” said Ronnie Bailey, 75, a retired Maryland corrections officer and Vietnam veteran. “When you talk about people’s lifelines, Social Security is not waste.”

Agnes Watkins, a retired nurse, said she relies on Social Security checks to pay her mortgage and cover other basic necessities. She said she’s disturbed at the thought that “anybody can just come in and gain access to private information.”

“It doesn’t feel secure,” she said.

The group held signs calling for the protection of Social Security benefits and shouted “Down with DOGE" and other chants.

DOGE has also accessed other government databases, including at the Treasury and IRS.

At Social Security, DOGE staffers swept into the agency days after Trump’s inauguration and pressed for a software engineer to quickly get access to data systems that are normally carefully restricted even within the government, a former official said in court documents.

The team appeared to be searching for fraud based on inaccuracies and misunderstandings, according Tiffany Flick, the former acting chief of staff to the acting commissioner.

“I am deeply concerned about DOGE’s access to SSA systems and the potential to inappropriately and inaccurately disclose this information, especially given the rushed nature in which we were required to onboard,” she said.

Hollander, who is based in Baltimore and was appointed by President Barack Obama, is the latest judge to consider a DOGE related case. The team has drawn nearly two dozen lawsuits, some of which have shed light on staffing and operations that have largely been kept under wraps.

Several judges have raised questions about DOGE’s sweeping cost-cutting efforts, but they have not always agreed that the risks are imminent enough to block the team from government systems.

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Whitehurst reported from Washington.