The Supreme Court cleared the way Friday for the DOGE team that had been led by Elon Musk to examine Social Security records that include personal information on most Americans.
Acting by a 6-3 vote, the justices granted an appeal from President Trump’s lawyers and lifted a court order that had barred a team of DOGE employees from freely examining Social Security records.
While Social Security employees are entrusted with the records containing personal information, it was disputed whether the 11 DOGE team members could be trusted with same material.
The DOGE employees “are subject to the same strict confidentiality standards as other SSA employees,” he said.
“For instance, a birth date of 1900 can be telltale evidence that an individual is probably deceased and should not still receive Social Security payments, while 15 names using the same Social Security number may also point to a problem,” he said.
On Friday, the Supreme Court gave the DOGE team, which had been headed by Elon Musk, permission to review Social Security records that contain the personal data of the majority of Americans.
By a vote of 6-3, the justices overturned a court order that had prohibited a group of DOGE employees from freely reviewing Social Security records and granted an appeal from President Trump’s attorneys.
In an unsigned ruling, the court stated that the Social Security Administration, or SSA, “may proceed to afford members of the SSA DOGE Team access to the agency records in question in order for those members to do their work—given the current circumstances.”.
In a second ruling, the justices prevented DOGE operations from being made public as agency documents that might be governed by the Freedom of Information Act.
The three liberal members of the court, Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, and Ketanji Brown Jackson, dissented in both cases.
Jackson wrote, “Today, the court grants ’emergency’ relief that permits the Social Security Administration (SSA) to turn over the extremely sensitive information of millions of Americans to DOGE staffers.”. Right now, before the courts have a chance to determine whether DOGE’s access is legal, the government wants to grant DOGE unrestricted access to this private, non-anonymized data. “.”.
A legal battle centered on the newly established Department of Governmental Efficiency’s unique status. This was the moniker given to Musk’s group of combative outside advisors, not a real department.
Were the members of the DOGE team outsiders who shouldn’t have access to personal information or presidential advisors?
It was contested whether the 11 DOGE team members could be trusted with the same material, even though Social Security employees are entrusted with records containing personal information.
Finding proof of fraud or misappropriation of public funds was the aim, Musk had stated.
Labor organizations filed a lawsuit against him and DOGE, claiming that the outside analysts were searching through documents containing private data that was protected by privacy laws. According to the DOGE team, if left unchecked, they could make extremely private computer profiles of each individual.
In Maryland, a federal judge concurred and issued an order limiting DOGE’s operations.
U. S. . Obama-appointed District Judge Ellen Hollander prohibited DOGE employees from accessing the private data of millions of Americans. However, her order did not prevent DOGE or Social Security employees from using sensitive personal information or data that did not identify individuals.
The divided 4th Circuit Court of Appeals voted 9–6 in late April to uphold the judge’s order.
According to Judge Robert King, the government has proposed to give the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) immediate and unrestricted access to all Social Security Administration (SSA) records, including the extremely private personal data of nearly every citizen of our nation. “”.
However, Trump Solicitor Gen. A judge shouldn’t “second guess” how the administration runs the government, according to D. John Sauer’s Supreme Court appeal.
He claimed that the district judge had “enjoined particular agency employees — the 11 members of the Social Security Administration (SSA) DOGE team — from accessing data that other agency employees can unquestionably access, and that the SSA DOGE team will use for purposes that are unquestionably lawful,” according to his statement. The dot. The duties of government employees are determined by the Executive Branch, not district courts. “”.
According to Sauer, the DOGE team was working to update SSA systems and spot incorrect payments, for example, by going through large amounts of data and highlighting odd payment trends or other indications of fraud.
According to him, DOGE staff members “are subject to the same strict confidentiality standards as other SSA employees.”. Furthermore, the plaintiffs “don’t claim that access by the SSA DOGE team will raise the possibility of public disclosure.”. “.”.
According to him, it is essential to verify the personal data.
“A person born in 1900, for example, is most likely dead and shouldn’t be receiving Social Security benefits, and 15 names using the same number may also indicate a problem,” he said.
