Unions Seek Emergency Court Order to Block DOGE From Accessing Social Security Data

A coalition of labor unions and retiree advocates has filed an emergency motion in a federal court to block the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from accessing the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) vast troves of sensitive personal data.

The plaintiffs—the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), Alliance for Retired Americans, and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT)—allege that DOGE has been unlawfully granted extensive access to SSA’s data infrastructure, overriding established privacy safeguards.

“Plaintiffs’ members and the general public—including senior citizens, children who have lost parents, and people with disabilities—submit this data to SSA knowing that, were the information to fall into the wrong hands, it could be used to perpetrate financial fraud (including identity theft) or to target individuals, including government critics,” the motion states.

Americans have long trusted the SSA to safeguard their sensitive personal data, a trust built on decades of strict privacy protections and compliance with federal laws designed to prevent misuse, the plaintiffs note.

They allege that trust has disappeared under DOGE, which “now runs roughshod over agencies across the Executive Branch,” the plaintiffs allege. “It seeks, seizes, and misuses the personal data of hundreds of millions of Americans, doing so without regard for the myriad laws passed by Congress to protect against exactly this type of abuse,” they claim.

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The Social Security Administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Trump administration, via DOGE, is attempting to cut federal spending and restructure government agencies to make the federal bureaucracy more efficient and save taxpayer dollars.

Trump has defended DOGE’s operations, telling lawmakers during the March 4 session of Congress that DOGE has already identified “appalling waste” and “hundreds of billions of dollars of fraud,” and that “this is just the beginning.”

However, critics argue that these efforts have weakened important government safeguards instead of saving costs. They say DOGE’s role is unclear and lacks proper oversight, raising security concerns.

The SSA-related lawsuit is the latest in a series of legal challenges to DOGE’s work. Federal judges in Washington, D.C., and New York have recently ruled on similar cases, with mixed outcomes. While some courts have acknowledged privacy concerns, others have hesitated to block DOGE’s access to government data, citing a lack of evidence of harm.