Under the order, the Social Security Agency (SSA) only allows employees who provide edited or anonymous records to conduct background checks and complete federal privacy laws and regulations training.
The ruling is the latest legal challenge to Musk and Duger’s efforts to reduce government spending, which has been criticized as wasting or dealing with President Donald Trump’s policies. It reported that SSA chief Michelle King resigned in February from Doge’s request to access information from Social Security recipients.
The case was filed by several unions, including the National Federation of Americans, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), who believe that SSA allows Doge unauthorized personnel to access sensitive data, ignoring the privacy of millions of Americans. AFSCME praised the decision, calling it “important” and expressed relief that the court intervened in what they called Doge’s “illegal and dangerous excess.”
As part of the ruling, any non-anonymous Social Security data they may have obtained since Trump took office in January must be removed. Additionally, Doge can only access personal social security data in certain circumstances and can only be accessed in court approval. Requests to access such data must be more attractive than seeking “find fraud or waste.”
Under Musk’s guidance, Doge faces scrutiny over his unclear legal status and concerns about conflicts of interest and lack of public responsibility.
