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Supreme Court Lets DOGE View Social Security Data

 

In a second order, the court ruled that, for now, the Department of Government Efficiency does not have to hand over internal records to a watchdog group.

The Trump administration said Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency needed sensitive records of the Social Security Administration to root out waste and fraud and to modernize the agency’s operations.Credit...Tom Brenner for The New York Times

The Trump administration said Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency needed sensitive records of the Social Security Administration to root out waste and fraud and to modernize the agency’s operations.Credit...Tom Brenner for The New York Times

The Supreme Court on Friday let members of the Department of Government Efficiency, formed by Elon Musk, have access to sensitive records of the Social Security Administration.

The court’s order was brief and unsigned, which is typical when the justices rule on emergency applications.

The Trump administration said it needed the data to root out waste and fraud and to modernize the agency’s operations. Two labor unions and an advocacy group represented by Democracy Forward Foundation sued to block access, saying that much of the information was deeply personal and protected by privacy laws.

The court responded that the agency “may proceed” to give DOGE access to the records necessary to do its work.

In a second unsigned order on Friday the court handed DOGE a second victory, ruling that, for now, the organization does not have to turn over internal records to a government watchdog group as part of a public records lawsuit.

The court’s three liberal members — Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson — dissented from both rulings.

Although Mr. Musk left Washington at the end of May after declining influence and increasing friction with both President Trump and shareholders of his own private companies, the two cases are a reminder of what he left behind.

For the first few months of the Trump administration, Mr. Musk and his team swept through federal agencies, firing federal workers and leaving a flurry of lawsuits in their wake. Mr. Musk’s time in the government, however, failed to deliver on his promised $1 trillion in cuts to the federal budget.

Mr. Musk’s departure from Washington also signaled the souring of his relationship — at least for the time being — with President Trump, which spilled into the public eye in spectacular fashion in a series of social media posts on Thursday.

Adam Liptak covers the Supreme Court and writes Sidebar, a column on legal developments. A graduate of Yale Law School, he practiced law for 14 years before joining The Times in 2002.

Abbie VanSickle covers the United States Supreme Court for The Times. She is a lawyer and has an extensive background in investigative reporting.

 

Author: Adam Liptak and Abbie VanSickle Reporting from Washington

Source: N.Y Times

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