Trump admin admits DOGE employees had access to off-limits Social Security data | The VergeSkip to main contentThe homepageThe VergeThe Verge logo.The VergeThe Verge logo.TechReviewsScienceEntertainmentAICESHamburger Navigation ButtonThe homepageThe VergeThe Verge logo.Hamburger Navigation ButtonNavigation DrawerThe VergeThe Verge logo.Login / Sign UpcloseCloseSearchTechExpandAmazonAppleFacebookGoogleMicrosoftSamsungBusinessSee all techGadgetsExpandLaptopsPhonesTVsHeadphonesSpeakersWearablesSee all gadgetsReviewsExpandSmart Home ReviewsPhone ReviewsTablet ReviewsHeadphone ReviewsSee all reviewsAIExpandOpenAIAnthropicSee all AIVerge ShoppingExpandBuying GuidesDealsGift GuidesSee all shoppingPolicyExpandAntitrustPoliticsLawSecuritySee all policyScienceExpandSpaceEnergyEnvironmentHealthSee all scienceEntertainmentExpandTV ShowsMoviesAudioSee all entertainmentGamingExpandXboxPlayStationNintendoSee all gamingStreamingExpandDisneyHBONetflixYouTubeCreatorsSee all streamingTransportationExpandElectric CarsAutonomous CarsRide-sharingScootersSee all transportationFeaturesVerge VideoExpandTikTokYouTubeInstagramPodcastsExpandDecoderThe VergecastVersion HistoryNewslettersExpandThe Verge DailyInstallerVerge DealsNotepadOptimizerRegulatorThe StepbackArchivesStoreSubscribeFacebookThreadsInstagramYoutubeRSSThe VergeThe Verge logo.Trump admin admits DOGE employees had access to off-limits Social Security dataComments DrawerCommentsLoading commentsGetting the conversation ready...NewsCloseNewsPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All NewsPolicyClosePolicyPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All PolicyPoliticsClosePoliticsPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All PoliticsTrump admin admits DOGE employees had access to off-limits Social Security dataA court filing reveals DOGE employees had more access to Social Security data than previously disclosed.A court filing reveals DOGE employees had more access to Social Security data than previously disclosed.by Lauren FeinerCloseLauren FeinerSenior Policy ReporterPosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All by Lauren FeinerJan 20, 2026, 10:52 PM UTCLinkShareGiftImage: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty ImagesLauren FeinerCloseLauren FeinerPosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All by Lauren Feiner is a senior policy reporter at The Verge, covering the intersection of Silicon Valley and Capitol Hill. She spent 5 years covering tech policy at CNBC, writing about antitrust, privacy, and content moderation reform.Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) staffers working at the Social Security Administration (SSA) broke protocols, had more access to sensitive data on Americans than previously disclosed, and were in touch with a political advocacy group hunting for election fraud, the Trump administration admitted in a recent court filing.Justice Department officials told a federal court in Maryland that the SSA had not fully complied with the court’s prior order, and had made statements to the court that it later found out were not entirely true. The admission came in a document, reported earlier by Politico, correcting the record in a case filed by unions representing government workers.In a recent review, the SSA found out that two members of the DOGE team working at the agency had been contacted in March 2025 by a political advocacy group “with a request to analyze state voter rolls that the advocacy group had acquired.” The group’s “stated aim was to find evidence of voter fraud and to overturn election results in certain States,” the filing says. One of those DOGE members signed a “Voter Data Agreement” with the group that was not reviewed through the appropriate process for SSA data exchanges. The agency first learned the agreement existed in November, during a review that was separate from the lawsuit at issue. The SSA made two referrals under the Hatch Act — the law that prohibits government employees from engaging in political activities in their professional capacity – in late December. The SSA and White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.RelatedDOGE might be storing every American’s SSN on an insecure cloud serverA DOGE staffer broke Treasury policy by emailing unencrypted personal dataDOGE is trying to access the IRS’s data on millions of taxpayersThe SSA also found out in its recent audit that some earlier statements made to the court by its then-chief information officer were not entirely true. The filing says that the agency believed its statements to be true at the time, and that they’re still largely accurate in several cases, though new information shows some inconsistencies. For example, the government maintains its earlier statement that the US Digital Service, taken over by DOGE, “never had access to SSA systems of record.” But, it was later found out that a member of the SSA DOGE team sent an encrypted, password-protected file that the SSA believes contained personal information on about 1,000 people to a then-senior advisor to DOGE. It remains “unclear” if the DOGE advisor was ever given the password, according to the filing.DOGE staffers were also briefly granted access to systems with Americans’ personal information after the court issued a temporary restraining order, but the government says the staffers never actually viewed personal information with that access. It also clarified that a DOGE staffer had run searches for personal information on SSA systems the morning before the agency filed a declaration to the court, saying that DOGE staffers’ access to such systems had been revoked.DOGE staffers at the SSA also shared data through the third-party server Cloudflare, which has not been approved for sharing data in that way, the filing says. The SSA still doesn’t know “exactly what data were shared to Cloudflare or whether the data still exist on the server.”Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.Lauren FeinerCloseLauren FeinerSenior Policy ReporterPosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All by Lauren FeinerNewsCloseNewsPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All NewsPolicyClosePolicyPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All PolicyPoliticsClosePoliticsPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All PoliticsMost PopularMost PopularSony’s TV business is being taken over by TCLHow much can a city take?Netflix revises Warner Bros. bid to an all-cash offerBungie’s Marathon shooter launches on March 5thRoland’s Go:Mixer Studio turns your phone into a mobile music studioThe Verge DailyA free daily digest of the news that matters most.Email (required)Sign UpBy submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice. 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The Trump administration has admitted to significant and concerning protocol breaches within the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a reorganization tasked with streamlining Social Security Administration operations. A recent court filing, initially reported by Politico, reveals that DOGE employees, specifically those working at the SSA, had unauthorized access to sensitive data pertaining to American citizens. This admission follows a series of revelations regarding the department’s actions, including contact with a political advocacy group pursuing claims of election fraud and attempts to access data without proper authorization.

The core of the issue centers around the agency’s failure to fully disclose its activities and the veracity of its statements to the court. Initially, the SSA maintained that its U.S. Digital Service team, subsequently absorbed into DOGE, had no access to SSA’s “systems of record.” However, subsequent investigations uncovered that a DOGE staffer had transmitted an encrypted, password-protected file containing personal information for approximately 1,000 individuals to a senior advisor within the DOGE organization. The fate of this password remains unknown, adding another layer of uncertainty to the situation.

Furthermore, DOGE personnel briefly gained access to systems holding Americans’ personal data following a court-issued temporary restraining order. Despite this access, the government asserts that the employees never actually viewed the sensitive information. However, the agency’s actions included sharing data through a third-party server, Cloudflare, which was not originally approved for data exchange. The extent of data shared with Cloudflare, and whether any of that data persists on the server, remains unclear.

The admissions extend beyond unauthorized data access. The SSA, at the time, made several claims to the court, including assertions about the team’s actions. A subsequent audit revealed discrepancies, indicating that some of these statements were inaccurate, though the government maintains many remain largely true. The situation also involved a Hatch Act violation, with a DOGE staff member engaging in political activity through a referral.

The revelations highlight a profound lack of oversight and control within the DOGE organization. The initial focus on streamlining processes appears to have overshadowed fundamental protocols concerning data security and government employee conduct. The fact that the government had to concede to these breaches raises serious questions about the entire reorganization and its impact on the sensitive information entrusted to the SSA. The investigation into the precise scope of the data shared and the individuals involved continues, but the initial admissions clearly demonstrate a significant lapse in judgment and a failure to uphold established safeguards.