Supreme Court Grants DOGE Access to Americans’ Social Security Data, Undermining Privacy Protections

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court granted the Trump administration’s request to stay a lower court’s order that would have prevented Americans’ sensitive personal data held by the Social Security Administration (SSA) from being turned over to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a secretive entity established by the Trump administration and led until recently by Elon Musk. This data includes Social Security numbers, medical and mental health records, and financial information of millions of Americans. The decision comes on the heels of the high court’s order shielding DOGE’s controversial operations from public scrutiny.

The Court granted the Trump administration’s emergency request to lift the lower court’s order temporarily restricting DOGE’s access to SSA data due to privacy concerns. Today’s order, which failed to adequately explain why the administration’s emergency relief was warranted, permits DOGE to proceed with accessing the data while legal challenges continue in the lower courts.

“The irony could not be more stark: On the same day the Supreme Court made it easier for the government to intrude on individuals’ most sensitive private information, it also made it harder for the public to uncover how that same government may be misusing sensitive information behind closed doors. ,” said American Oversight Executive Director Chioma Chukwu. “The Court’s shielding of those in power while stripping protections from the American people sets a dangerous precedent and is exactly backwards in a functioning democracy.” 

In her dissent, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, joined by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, criticized the majority for allowing DOGE “unfettered access to this personal, non-anonymized information right now — before the courts have time to assess whether DOGE’s access is lawful.” She noted that such decisions convey “preferential treatment for the Government [and] a willingness to undercut” the lower courts, who operate within the “well-established constraints of law that they are in the process of enforcing.” She further warned that this decision, which allows the Government to “ditch the usual protocols for accessing [SSA] data,” creates “grave privacy risks for millions of Americans.”

American Oversight has been actively investigating DOGE’s role in the Trump administration’s efforts to overhaul federal agencies, including the SSA. Earlier this year, the organization launched a major investigation into the administration’s plans to restructure Social Security, concerned about potential impacts on beneficiaries’ access to services and benefits.

For more information on American Oversight’s investigation into DOGE, click here.