A federal judge on Thursday issued a temporary restraining order preventing Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team from accessing personally identifiable information from the Social Security Administration (SSA).
In a strongly worded ruling, Judge Ellen Lipton Hollander accused DOGE of conducting a “fishing expedition” within the Social Security agency and failing to provide any justification for why it required access to extensive amounts of Americans’ private and personal data.
Hollander stated that the “defendants, with so-called experts on the DOGE Team,” never specified or explained why DOGE needed “unlimited access to SSA’s entire record systems, thereby exposing personal, confidential, sensitive, and private information that millions of Americans entrusted to their government.”
The order, issued by the U.S. District Court in Baltimore, prohibits the Social Security Administration, acting Commissioner Leland Dudek, and Chief Information Officer Michael Russo, along with all associated agents and employees working with them, from granting access to any system containing personally identifiable information.
According to the lawsuit, personally identifiable information refers to data that can be used to identify an individual, either by itself or when combined with other details.
This includes Social Security numbers, medical provider information, medical and mental health treatment records, employer and employee payment records, earnings, addresses, bank records, and tax information.
The judge also ordered DOGE team members and affiliates to erase all non-anonymized personally identifiable information in their possession or control that they have accessed “directly or indirectly” since January 20.
The lawsuit was filed by a coalition of unions and retirees, including the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the Alliance for Retired Americans, and the American Federation of Teachers.
In response to the ruling, White House principal deputy press secretary Harrison Fields criticized Hollander, labeling her a “radical leftist” and accusing her of “abusing the system to try and sabotage” Trump’s agenda.
“The President will continue to seek all legal remedies available to ensure the will of the American people goes into effect,” Fields stated.
Protests Against DOGEJudge: DOGE method ‘hitting a fly with a sledgehammer’
Hollander noted that the affiliates of DOGE have concealed their identities, writing, “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 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,” the judge added.
Hollander also pointed out that the administration had not “attempted to explain why a more tailored, measured, titrated approach is not suitable to the task.”
“Instead, the government simply repeats its incantation of a need to modernize the system and uncover fraud,” she wrote. “Its method of doing so is tantamount to hitting a fly with a sledgehammer.”
The judge referenced the public outcry following the disclosure of Social Security numbers belonging to more than 400 former congressional staffers and other individuals due to the release of unredacted files related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. She stated that this incident underscores the expectation of privacy when it comes to such personal data.
Hollander concluded that the plaintiffs are “likely” to succeed in their claims that DOGE’s actions are arbitrary and in violation of the Privacy Act and Administrative Procedure Act.
Richard Fiesta, executive director of the Alliance for Retired Americans, a national grassroots advocacy group, welcomed the ruling.
“We are grateful that the court took strong action to protect every American’s personal data,” Fiesta stated in an emailed response. “Seniors must be able to trust the Social Security Administration will protect their personal information and keep it from falling into the wrong hands.”