Thursday, 17 July 2025

Another Rogue Judge Blocks DOGE From Accessing Social Security Systems

100 Percent Fed Up
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Another day, another rogue judge…

U.S. District Judge Ellen Hollander, appointed by Barack Obama,  has just ruled to bar Elon Musk’s DOGE from accessing information from Social Security systems.

Take a look:

In her ruling, Judge Hollander claimed that DOGE is “essentially engaged in a fishing expedition at SSA, in search of a fraud epidemic, based on little more than suspicion.”

Um, what?

Isn’t the whole point of DOGE to ‘fish’ for fraud? And, the pond is full…

She went on to write, “It has launched a search for the proverbial needle in the haystack, without any concrete knowledge that the needle is actually in the haystack.”

Hmm, seems more like an elephant in a haystack to me.

Keep in mind that DOGE has already discovered massive fraud within the SSA…

 

Politico reported on the ruling:

A federal judge has barred Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency from accessing sensitive systems at the Social Security Administration, saying the group appears to be on a “fishing expedition” that could jeopardize the data of millions of people.

“The DOGE Team is essentially engaged in a fishing expedition at SSA, in search of a fraud epidemic, based on little more than suspicion,” said U.S. District Judge Ellen Hollander in a 137-page ruling. “It has launched a search for the proverbial needle in the haystack, without any concrete knowledge that the needle is actually in the haystack.”

Hollander, an appointee of President Barack Obama, said the group’s broad access likely violated privacy laws. The Maryland-based judge ordered an immediate halt to the DOGE Social Security team’s access to any systems that contain sensitive data of Social Security recipients. She ordered Musk, DOGE and other affiliates to destroy any non-anonymized data they’ve obtained.

“Ironically, the identity of these DOGE affiliates has been concealed because defendants are concerned that the disclosure of even their names would expose them to harassment and thus invade their privacy,” the judge wrote. “The defense does not appear to share a privacy concern for the millions of Americans whose SSA records were made available to the DOGE affiliates, without their consent.”

Hollander also barred the group from installing software in Social Security systems and to remove any software that has been installed since President Donald Trump began his second term. DOGE, under the order, is also prohibited from altering any code in the Social Security system.

The Hill has more details:

A federal judge in Maryland on Thursday temporarily blocked the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from accessing millions of Americans’ personal data stored by the Social Security Administration (SSA).

In a scathing, 137-page opinion, U.S. District Judge Ellen Hollander sharply questioned DOGE’s unfettered access to Americans’ personally identifiable information. She blocked the advisory group from the SSA’s systems containing such data and ordered the deletion of any in DOGE’s possession.

“The DOGE Team is essentially engaged in a fishing expedition at SSA, in search of a fraud epidemic, based on little more than suspicion,” Hollander wrote. “It has launched a search for the proverbial needle in the haystack, without any concrete knowledge that the needle is actually in the haystack.”

A coalition of government unions, backed by the left-leaning legal organization Democracy Forward, sued over DOGE’s access to Social Security, claiming that its access to private personal information flouts privacy laws and the agency’s own rules and regulations.

The information in the SSA’s records includes Social Security numbers, medical and mental health records, bank data and earnings history.

In her ruling, Hollander said the government has “not even attempted” to explain why DOGE needs such sweeping access to Americans’ personal data, instead repeating its refrain that DOGE’s mission to root out fraud and modernize the bureaucracy must not be hindered.

This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport.

View the original article here.


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