Judge temporarily blocks DOGE from accessing sensitive Social Security data
In a scathing ruling on Thursday, a federal judge wrote that DOGE “essentially engaged in a fishing expedition at SSA, in search of a fraud epidemic, based on little more than suspicion.”
A federal judge on Thursday barred U.S. DOGE Service employees from accessing sensitive Social Security Administration data and ordered members of the team led by Elon Musk to delete any personally identifiable information it has obtained from the agency.
On the broad premise of rooting out fraud within the federal government, about a dozen Musk-aligned tech engineers gained access to databases containing reams of taxpayer information. In February, a clash over DOGE’s access to sensitive data spurred the acting SSA commissioner at the time, Michelle King, to leave her job about a month after being appointed to the role.
Acting Social Security Administration commissioner Leland Dudek told Bloomberg News that Thursday’s temporary restraining order was so broad in barring data access to “DOGE affiliates” that it could apply to any Social Security employee — including the agency’s IT staff and anti-fraud team. Therefore, he said, he would follow the order by blocking SSA employees from the agency’s computer systems — and ask the judge to clarify her order.
“As it stands, I will follow it exactly and terminate access by all SSA employees to our IT systems,” Dudek said, adding, “Really, I want to turn it off and let the courts figure out how they want to run a federal agency.”
