Lawsuit Says DOGE is Ignoring Key Social Security Data Rules

A lawsuit seeking to eject from the Social Security Administration a Trump administration operation bent on slashing the federal government says putative fraud busters sent by the Department of Government Enforcement rolled through safeguards meant to protect some of America’s most sensitive data.

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In a declaration filed Friday, former SSA Acting Chief of Staff Tiffany Flick said she witnessed disregard for protections after Mike Russo became agency chief information officer. Russo, previously a part-time advisor to a payment processing firm that in 2021 signed a deal with Elon Musk-owned SpaceX, pressured officials to grant software engineer Akash Bobba access to key systems despite unresolved security clearance issues at the time, Flick said.

Russo, 67, introduced himself as a representative of the Department of Government Efficiency, a White House effort headed by Musk that’s led to the firing of civil servants, canceled foreign aid and worries about improper access to federal systems at multiple federal agencies. Bobba, 22, is one of a cohort of young coders selected by Musk to join DOGE.

Flick said was forced out in February for enforcing long-standing policies such as limiting system access to those with a “need to know.” DOGE members pushed for unrestricted entry to sensitive data and ignored security protocols meant to protect financial information from exploitation and exposure, said Flick, a 30-year civil service veteran.

“I am not confident that DOGE associates have the requisite knowledge and training to prevent sensitive information from being inadvertently transferred to bad actors,” she said.

“That concern is elevated, given that I understand Mr. Bobba to be working, and thus accessing SSA systems, from OPM offices-surrounded by employees and officials of other agencies and White House components who have, to my knowledge, never been vetted by SSA or trained on SSA data, systems, or programs,” Flick also said. OPM is the Office of Personnel Management, which has become a DOGE power base.

Flick’s declaration said much of the SSA’s information technology consists of “an incredibly complex web of systems that are extremely reliable in making Social Security and Supplemental Security Income payments,” but some rely on outdated programming languages requiring specialized expertise. Others “are vulnerable to being broken by inadvertent user error if SSA’s longstanding development, separation of duties and information security policies and procedures are not followed.” Flick said Russo “seemed completely focused on questions from DOGE officials based on the general myth of supposed widespread Social Security fraud, rather than facts.”

Technologists have warned that DOGE has pushed government employees to send sensitive information to potentially unsecured email addresses while reportedly relying on artificial intelligence systems to analyze the data and determine which federal positions are no longer necessary.

Flick’s declaration is part of a lawsuit initiated by the AFL-CIO seeking emergency intervention against DOGE’s “unprecedented, unlawful seizure of personal, confidential, private and sensitive data.” SSA data collection and maintenance processes are governed by laws and policies such as the Privacy Act, Systems of Record Notices and the Social Security Act, which prohibit the unrestricted sharing of sensitive data and require months-long vetting processes to grant permissions for information sharing across federal agencies for specific purposes.

Flick said her team proposed briefings to help DOGE associates better understand how SSA programs work, but the task force persisted in demanding access to “everything, including source code,” which the agency rarely grants, even to internal employees, and only under very specific circumstances. She said she retired after she was informed that Leland Dudek, a mid-ranking data analyst, had been appointed to serve as acting commissioner. Dudek has been placed on administrative leave for aiding DOGE. He posted on a now-deleted LinkedIn post that “I confess. I bullied agency executives, shared executive contact information, and circumvented the chain of command to connect DOGE with the people who get stuff done.”

“Amazingly, Leland was fired by Social Security Administration upper management for helping @DOGE find taxpayer savings. Can you believe that??” Musk wrote on social media platform X, formerly Twitter. “Thanks to President Trump, Leland was brought back right away and now HE is upper management.”

Multiple requests for comment went unanswered Monday by SSA, the White House and DOGE. The Washington Post, which first reported the news of Flick’s declaration, also stated that DOGE representatives have assumed the responsibility of decision-making at SSA as Dudek prepares plans for reductions in force and major budget cuts.

Trump and Musk’s drive to use DOGE as a tool to slash the size of the federal government has accelerated at a rapid pace, triggering staff overhauls across most civilian agencies, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the FBI, and key election security and disinformation teams. Rob Joyce, a veteran National Security Agency official and former White House cybersecurity coordinator under the first Trump administration, warned lawmakers in early March that mass federal firings are jeopardizing national security by creating “pervasive uncertainty and doubt” that is driving top talent across government “to seek secure opportunities for their families outside national security” (see: Ex-NSA Official: Federal Purge Threatens National Security).