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“The American public may well applaud & support the #Trump Administration's mission to root out fraud, waste, & bloat from federal agencies, including #SSA, to the extent it exists. But, by what means & methods?

“The #DOGE Team is essentially engaged in a fishing expedition at SSA, in search of a fraud epidemic, based on little more than suspicion. It has launched a search for the proverbial needle in the haystack, w/o any concrete knowledge that the needle is actually in the haystack.”

NEW development on ↑ case

Acting #SocialSecurity head consults w/ #DOJ on threat to close agency

Leland Dudek argues that a ruling blocking #ElonMusk’s *cost-cutting* #DOGE from access to sensitive taxpayer data could apply to all employees.

Acting SSA commissioner Leland Dudek said Fri that he is consulting w/agency attys & #Justice as he threatens to shut down the agency in response to a court ruling blocking #Musk’s team from accessing sensitive taxpayer data.

#law
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/03/21/social-security-benefits-trump-doge/

Judge Hollander of US Dist Court for #Maryland issued a 2wk #TRO that prohibits #SocialSecurity ofcls from sharing personally identifying info w/ #Musk’s #DOGE, which has been empowered by #Trump to carry out *cost-cutting*

Hollander wrote DOGE “essentially engaged in a fishing expedition at SSA, in search of a fraud epidemic, based on little more than suspicion” & “never identified or articulated even a single reason for which…DOGE…needs unlimited access to SSA’s entire record systems.”

In an interview Fri, Dudek argued that the judge’s ruling was *overly broad* & that a reference to “DOGE affiliates” could apply to all employees who access personally identifiable info, or #PII, because they are obligated to cooperate w/ #DOGE.

Dudek said the agency plans to file an affidavit as soon as Fri asking Hollander to clarify language in her ruling….

“Everything in this agency is PII. Unless I get clarification, I’ll just start to shut it down. I don’t have much of a choice here.”

Dudek first made his threat to close down the #SocialSecurity Administration during a Bloomberg News interview Thurs night.

Such a dramatic move would be unprecedented in the agency’s history & would immediately begin halting benefit payments for millions of Americans.

#law #Trump #Musk #DOGE #YourMoney #PayrollTax #InfoSec #privacy #benefits #senoirs #survivors #disability #FICA
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-03-20/social-security-says-doge-ruling-could-force-agency-to-shut-down