A federal judge on Thursday issued a temporary restraining order blocking the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk under President Donald Trump, from accessing sensitive Social Security Administration records. The decision marks a major blow to the Trump administration's aggressive cost-cutting agenda and raises significant concerns over privacy and data security.
U.S. District Judge Ellen Hollander ruled in favor of unions representing federal workers and retirees who filed a lawsuit challenging DOGE's unprecedented access to personal information. The plaintiffs, including the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the Alliance for Retired Americans, argued that DOGE's data access violated the Privacy Act and procedural laws governing federal agencies.
In her 137-page decision, Judge Hollander called DOGE's actions a "fishing expedition" and criticized the administration for failing to provide a clear justification for allowing DOGE members to view confidential records, including Social Security numbers, medical histories, and financial information of millions of Americans.
"The defense does not appear to share a privacy concern for the millions of Americans whose SSA records were made available to the DOGE affiliates, without their consent," Hollander wrote. "This intrusion into the personal affairs of millions of Americans-absent an adequate explanation for the need to do so-is not in the public interest."
The ruling requires DOGE and its team at SSA to delete all non-anonymized personal information they had obtained. It further blocks DOGE from accessing SSA software systems or installing any additional programs.
The Justice Department disclosed that DOGE had embedded ten federal employees within the SSA, with seven granted access to sensitive systems. Government attorneys defended the arrangement as consistent with standard internal SSA practices. However, Hollander rejected that argument, asserting that DOGE's access was "unprecedented" and lacked proper hiring, training, and oversight protocols.
Lee Saunders, president of AFSCME, welcomed the ruling as a safeguard for retirees and beneficiaries. "The court saw that Elon Musk and his unqualified lackeys present a grave danger to Social Security and have illegally accessed the data of millions of Americans," Saunders stated.
President Trump established DOGE on his first day back in office, appointing Musk to oversee the initiative aimed at downsizing the federal government. The task force has dispatched employees to over a dozen federal agencies, often bypassing conventional hiring practices and regulatory protocols. Musk, a close political ally of Trump and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has been vocal about his belief that Social Security is plagued by fraud, though the administration has offered scant evidence to support the claim.
Hollander noted that while rooting out fraud is a legitimate goal, the government cannot "flout the law to do so." She emphasized that DOGE's sweeping access to confidential data had not been accompanied by a "reasonable explanation."
Concerns over DOGE's authority extend beyond the SSA. Similar lawsuits have been filed challenging DOGE's role at other federal agencies. Earlier this week, another Maryland judge ruled that DOGE likely violated the Constitution's Appointments Clause when it unilaterally shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development.
