A federal judge has ruled against DOGE’s access to Social Security systems, criticizing Elon Musk’s team for lacking concrete evidence in their probe.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
U.S. District Judge Ellen Hollander, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, issued a ruling Thursday prohibiting DOGE, a federal government efficiency entity headed by Elon Musk, from accessing the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) systems. In a sharply worded opinion, Judge Hollander characterized DOGE’s investigative efforts as speculative and unfounded. “The DOGE Team is essentially engaged in a fishing expedition at SSA, in search of a fraud epidemic, based on little more than suspicion,” Hollander wrote in her ruling. “It has launched a search for the proverbial needle in the haystack, without any concrete knowledge that the needle is actually in the haystack.”
The decision came amid legal action initiated by several left-leaning organizations, including the AFL-CIO, the American Federation of Teachers, and the Alliance for Retired Americans. These groups filed suit against multiple defendants including the SSA, Musk, and other DOGE officials. “The plaintiffs are the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO (‘AFSCME’); Alliance for Retired Americans (‘ARA’ or ‘Alliance’); and American Federation of Teachers (‘AFT’),” the court document stated.
The lawsuit named as defendants the Social Security Administration; Leland Dudek, identified as the “purported Acting Commissioner” of the SSA; Michael Russo, in his official capacity as Chief Information Officer of the SSA; Elon Musk, cited as “Senior Advisor to the President and de facto head of” the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE); the U.S. DOGE Service; the U.S. DOGE Service Temporary Organization; and Amy Gleason, acting administrator of DOGE.
The plaintiffs allege that the DOGE team’s efforts to gain access to SSA systems violated privacy and overstepped legal boundaries, asserting that the organization’s true aim was to uncover widespread fraud based solely on speculative assumptions. In her ruling, Judge Hollander sided with the plaintiffs, expressing skepticism over the legitimacy of DOGE’s methods and motivations.
The judge’s decision underscores tensions between the Trump administration’s push to expand DOGE’s authority in rooting out inefficiency and fraud within federal agencies, and legal challenges asserting such actions infringe upon privacy and lack sufficient legal basis. DOGE’s mandate, led by Musk, includes initiatives to streamline government operations, but the court’s intervention indicates the limits of that authority when challenged in federal court.
