U.S. Supreme Court grants DOGE access to Social Security data

7/6/2025 14:47

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday authorized officials from the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency to access Social Security Administration data.



The Supreme Court granted an emergency petition filed by the administration of President Donald Trump to ask for a lifting of an injunction issued by a district judge in Maryland.



The court order states that members of the DOGE team assigned to the Social Security Administration should have "access to the agency records in question in order for those members to do their work."



The lawsuit challenging DOGE's actions alleged that allowing broader access to personal information would violate a federal law called the Privacy Act, as well as the Administrative Procedure Act.



U.S. District Judge Ellen Hollander had ruled that DOGE had no legitimate need to access the specific data in question. The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Richmond, Virginia, declined to block Judge Hollander's decision, prompting the Trump administration to file an emergency request with the Supreme Court.