Americans exploited by former DOGE employees

The Social Security inspector general’s office is investigating a whistleblower complaint alleging that a former employee of President Donald Trump’s defunct “Department of Government Efficiency” exploited Americans’ private information.

In a document obtained by News themezone on Tuesday, the Social Security Administration’s internal watchdog last week informed the chairs and ranking members of four congressional committees that it was launching an investigation after receiving an anonymous complaint about “the potential misuse of SSA data by a former DOGE employee.”

The Washington Post reported more details not disclosed by the SSA OIG and said Tuesday that it had reviewed the claim and spoken with the whistleblower. According to the complaint, a former DOGE software engineer claimed he had access to two highly sensitive SSA databases and planned to share Americans’ personal information with his new private sector employer. The databases include private information (Social Security numbers, places and dates of birth, citizenship status, parents’ names, races and ethnicities) of more than 500 million living and dead Americans.

The complaint, the Post reports, states that the former DOGE worker told the complainant that he needed help loading a USB flash drive with the data on his personal computer so he could “sanitize” it before delivering it to his new workplace. The worker allegedly told another colleague that he believed Trump would forgive him if he was caught doing something illegal.

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Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), one of the lawmakers who was notified of the complaint, said he was deeply concerned by the details he learned from the Post.

“These allegations describe one of the largest known data breaches in American history, perpetrated by Trump appointees with the express purpose of weaponizing Americans’ sensitive personal data for political gain,” he said in a statement. “There must be a full public accounting of this breach at Social Security, including justice for anyone who committed or enabled the criminal theft of Americans’ data.”

Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) expressed concern about the former DOGE employee’s ability to access and alter SSA data remotely.

“Not only has a former DOGE brother been accused of running around with every American’s Social Security information on a flash drive, but he may also have the ability to edit and manipulate data at the Social Security Administration at will,” he warned, calling it “dangerous and outrageous.”

Security concerns related to DOGE, a government cost-cutting initiative led by tech billionaire and former Trump ally Elon Musk, have continued. In January, the Trump administration admitted in court that DOGE staff had unauthorized access to sensitive SSA data and may have shared it outside the agency.

This is also not the first complaint from a whistleblower alleging misconduct at DOGE. In August, a complaint from SSA Chief Data Officer Charles Borges alleged that DOGE staff had recklessly made a live copy of the SSA’s most sensitive database and insecurely stored it on a digital cloud server. The investigation into those claims is ongoing.

Arthur Delaney contributed reporting.