Jon Brodkin reports:
A federal judge yesterday issued a temporary restraining order blocking DOGE’s access to Social Security Administration records, saying the DOGE agency created by President Donald Trump “is essentially engaged in a fishing expedition at SSA, in search of a fraud epidemic, based on little more than suspicion.”
Plaintiffs are likely to win their case alleging that DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) and other government defendants are violating the Privacy Act and the Administrative Procedure Act, said a ruling by US District Judge Ellen Lipton Hollander in the District of Maryland. Social Security officials “provided members of the SSA DOGE Team with unbridled access to the personal and private data of millions of Americans, including but not limited to Social Security numbers, medical records, mental health records, hospitalization records, drivers’ license numbers, bank and credit card information, tax information, income history, work history, birth and marriage certificates, and home and work addresses,” Hollander wrote.
Read more at Ars Technica.