To provide Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency access to Social Security databases holding the personal information of millions of Americans, the Trump administration petitioned the Supreme Court on Friday.
In a series of applications regarding DOGE’s expedited federal work, the top court will hear the emergency appeal first.
In a decision based on federal privacy regulations, a Maryland judge had already limited the team’s ability to access Social Security. According to court filings, the organization has access to the personal information of almost every citizen, including records from their schools, banks, salaries, and even their mental and physical health information for those who get disability aid.
The administration has stated that in order to target waste within the federal government, the team requires access. As he is about to withdraw from his involvement with DOGE, Musk has turned his attention to Social Security, which he claims is rife with fraud. He called it a “Ponzi scheme” and said cutting program waste is a great way to save money for the government. The billionaire entrepreneur is right.
On Friday, Solicitor General John Sauer stated that the judge’s limitations interfere with choices made by the executive branch and impede DOGE’s vital job. “If this preliminary injunction is not lifted, it will lead to additional court interference in agency decision-making,” he stated.
While the case is ongoing, he urged the justices to stay the order from Maryland’s U.S. District Judge Ellen Hollander.
Despite ideological divisions, an appeals court has already declined to instantly remove the DOGE access barrier. A panel of conservative judges voted in the minority and concluded that the group had not engaged in any “targeted snooping” or leaked any private information.
The original plaintiffs in the case were a coalition of pensioners and unions represented by Democracy Forward. By May 12, the Supreme Court had requested that they respond to the administration’s appeal.
There have been over twenty lawsuits filed in response to DOGE’s actions, which have resulted in massive layoffs and budget cuts at government agencies.
A “fishing expedition” grounded on “little more than suspicion” of fraud was what DOGE’s attempts against Social Security were, according to Hollander.
Staff members are granted access to anonymized data under her order; nevertheless, the Trump administration has claimed that DOGE is unable to function efficiently under these constraints.
A major danger, according to Elizabeth Laird of the nonprofit organization Center for Democracy and Technology, is the widespread availability of sensitive personal data. “A multitude of possible damages might be unleashed if DOGE obtains this knowledge. She went on to say that this technique becomes the standard for other federal agencies, which is extremely risky.
About 200 lawsuits have been filed opposing policies on immigration, education, and mass layoffs of federal employees, among other topics, making the nation’s judicial system the epicentre of resistance to President Trump’s expansive conservative agenda.
Out of all the cases that have made it to the highest court, the justices have agreed with the administration on certain procedural matters but disagreed on the administration’s overarching arguments in other cases.
