SSA sued by watchdog over nonresponses to DOGE-related FOIA requests

A nonprofit watchdog investigating the so-called Department of Government Efficiency’s activities at the Social Security Administration is suing the benefits agency to compel the release of documents sought in public records requests.

American Oversight’s complaint, filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, pertains to SSA nonresponses to Freedom of Information Act requests covering various DOGE-related actions regarding the handling of the public’s personally identifiable information.

“Americans hand over their most sensitive personal information to the federal government because they have to, and they have every right to expect that information will be protected,” Chioma Chukwu, American Oversight’s executive director, said in a press release. “Instead, the Trump administration gave DOGE access to that information, and we’re now learning about serious failures to safeguard it.”

The lawsuit recounts several whistleblower disclosures, court filings and reporting about DOGE’s presence during the early days of the second Trump administration, including:

• A complaint from former SSA Chief Data Officer Charles Borges that alleged DOGE representatives uploaded a copy of the Numident database to a cloud server without following standard security protocols, a violation of agency policy.
• A Department of Justice court filing earlier this year that revealed potential PII exposures by DOGE via a third-party server. 
• A revelation in the same court filing that detailed coordination between DOGE and an advocacy group seeking “evidence of voter fraud.” 
• An SSA inspector general report that highlighted a whistleblower complaint in which an ex-DOGE software engineer allegedly told coworkers that he put Numident and Master Death File data on a thumb drive and planned to share it with his new employer.

SSA has not produced any documents in response to American Oversight’s FOIA requests, the lawsuit says, including requests for emails between senior agency officials and several DOGE associates, as well as emails and texts that mention the Master Death File, “god-level” access, thumb drives and other terms. 

“The people who stand to pay the price aren’t the officials who made these decisions,” Chukwu said. “They’re working families, retirees, and everyday Americans who could face identity theft, financial fraud, or threats to the benefits they’ve earned. Enough is enough. The American people deserve to know who had their information, what was done with it, and whether it’s still at risk. We’re going to court to find out.”