A federal judge in Maryland has issued a temporary order preventing Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from accessing Social Security Administration (SSA) databases, which contain personal information on millions of Americans.
The ruling by U.S. District Judge Ellen Hollander also mandates that DOGE delete any personally identifiable information it may have obtained. The decision follows a legal challenge from labor unions and retirees, who sought an emergency order restricting DOGE’s access due to privacy and security concerns.
Opponents of DOGE argue that the department’s extensive access to SSA records poses a major privacy risk. They claim that DOGE’s mission to identify government fraud has led to overreach and potential data breaches. A former SSA official who witnessed DOGE’s presence at the agency expressed serious concerns about sensitive data being compromised.
Judge Hollander supported these concerns, stating in her ruling that the DOGE team appeared to be conducting a “fishing expedition” in search of fraud, without sufficient evidence to justify their broad access to personal records.
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The Trump administration has defended DOGE, asserting that the team consists of ten federal employees, seven of whom have been granted read-only access to SSA systems and personal data. Officials