Trump Asks Supreme Court to Grant DOGE Access to Social Security Data

Trump Administration Petitions Supreme Court for DOGE Access to Social Security Records

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has formally requested that the Supreme Court permit Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to access to Social Security systems containing personal information on millions of American citizens. This emergency appeal represents the first in a series of anticipated applications to the high court regarding DOGE’s operations across federal agencies.

The request follows a Maryland federal judge’s ruling to limit the team’s access to Social Security records under federal privacy law protections. The Social Security Administration maintains extensive personal records on nearly all Americans, including educational records, banking information, salary data, and medical and mental health documentation for disability recipients, according to court filings.

DOGE’s Rationale for Access to Social Security Systems

The administration maintains that the efficiency team requires access to effectively identify and eliminate waste within the federal government. Musk, who is preparing to reduce his DOGE responsibilities, has specifically targeted Social Security, characterizing it as a “Ponzi scheme” and asserting that reducing waste in the program is essential for decreasing government expenditures.

Solicitor General John Sauer argued Friday that the judge’s restrictions impede DOGE’s critical work and inappropriately interfere with executive branch authority.

“Left undisturbed, this preliminary injunction will only invite further judicial incursions into internal agency decision-making,” Sauer stated in the court filing.

He has requested that the justices block U.S. District Judge Ellen Hollander’s order while the lawsuit proceeds through the legal system.

Legal Opposition and Social Security Data Privacy Concerns

An appeals court previously declined to immediately lift the restrictions on DOGE access, though the decision revealed ideological divisions. Conservative judges in the minority contended there is no evidence that the team has conducted any “targeted snooping” or exposed personal information.

The original lawsuit was filed by a coalition of labor unions and retirees represented by Democracy Forward. The Supreme Court has requested their response to the administration’s appeal by May 12.

This case represents one of more than two dozen legal challenges to DOGE’s activities, which have included:

• Substantial reductions at federal agencies
• Widespread employee terminations
• Attempts to access sensitive government systems

Judicial Assessment of Social Security Access

Judge Hollander determined that DOGE’s efforts at Social Security constituted a “fishing expedition” based on “little more than suspicion” of fraud.

While her order permits staffers to access to Social Security records in anonymized form, the Trump administration contends that DOGE cannot function effectively under these limitations for waste reduction in Social Security programs.

Data Protection Issues for Social Security Records

Elizabeth Laird from the nonprofit Center for Democracy and Technology cautioned that extensive access to sensitive personal information presents significant risks.

“If DOGE gains access to this information, it opens the floodgates on a host of potential harms. It also normalizes a very dangerous practice for other federal agencies,” she warned.

Broader Legal Context of the Social Security Case

The federal court system has become the primary venue for legal challenges to President Trump’s conservative policy agenda, with approximately 200 lawsuits filed against initiatives ranging from immigration to education to mass terminations of federal employees.

Among cases that have reached the Supreme Court, the justices have issued some largely procedural rulings favoring the administration but have rejected the government’s broad arguments in other instances regarding executive branch authority.