A Federal judge in Baltimore is set to consider whether to block the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) access to personal data of and about millions of Americans that is held by the Social Security Administration (SSA).
Judge Ellen Hollander, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, Baltimore Division, heard arguments on Friday from a coalition of unions claiming DOGE violated privacy laws in its access to SSA data.
The American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the Alliance for Retired Americans, and the American Federation of Teachers originally filed the complaint against the SSA and DOGE on Feb. 21, but amended the complaint on March 7.
The amended complaint alleges that the SSA violated multiple privacy laws including the Privacy Act of 1974 by giving DOGE access to “sensitive information” including tax returns, employment and wage data, medical histories, and personal addresses of millions of people.
“DOGE and it’s government-wide commandeering of sensitive information have wreaked havoc on the American system of government and caused incredible concern for the privacy of the American public,” the complaint reads.
The complaint specifically alleges SSA did not go through the proper channels in order to give DOGE access to its data, which made it unclear who had access to the data and what kind of data was being manipulated. The complaint asserts that SSA and DOGE violated the Administrative Procedure Act in its data sharing.
“[The Social Security Administration leadership has] disclosed an unfathomable amount of sensitive, personally identifying information about the American public without acknowledging that SSA was changing its policies, identifying the source of its authority to do so, or providing any analysis whatsoever of why its decision is not arbitrary and capricious,” the complaint reads.
The complaint – also filed against SSA’s acting commissioner Leland Dudek – takes issue with Dudek’s allowance of DOGE into the department’s systems. The complaint claims Dudek acted outside of his authority as acting commissioner by allowing DOGE to access significant SSA data.
“Despite serving in a presidentially appointed and Senate-confirmed position, Dudek was neither nominated by the President nor confirmed by the Senate. Nor has Congress enacted any law authorizing him to perform the functions and duties of the Commissioner without Senate confirmation,” the complaint reads.
Lawyers for the coalition of unions requested that Judge Hollander declare DOGE’s actions unlawful, block DOGE from accessing sensitive information at the SSA, force DOGE to delete and return information it has obtained since Jan. 20, and prohibit DOGE from altering data systems and code in the SSA.
“Today, the American public again faces Executive Branch overreach threatening the privacy of hundreds of millions of people’s personal data,” the complaint reads.
“In attempting to seize and maintain agency systems, including SSA’s, the Trump administration is violating the many protections that Congress and the Executive Branch have erected against exactly this type of data mining and misuse,” the complaint adds.
