Trump Admin Urges Supreme Court to Permit DOGE Access to Social Security Records
The Department of Justice urged the Supreme Court on May 13 to let the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have access to Social Security data after lower courts blocked that access.
President Donald Trump
Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued in the new filing that the lower courts have overreached and are attempting to turn themselves into 'the human resources department for the Executive Branch.'
The filing came after Maryland-based federal district Judge Ellen Lipton Hollander issued an
The lawsuit was brought in February by labor unions and retirees represented by the Democracy Forward Foundation.
'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, without any concrete knowledge that the needle is actually in the haystack,' the judge wrote in granting a temporary restraining order against the federal government.
Related Stories
5/5/2025
5/2/2025
DOGE's team at the Social Security Administration has had 'unbridled access to the personal and private data of millions of Americans, including but not limited to Social Security numbers, medical records, mental health records, hospitalization records, drivers' license numbers, bank and credit card information, tax information, income history, work history, birth and marriage certificates, and home and work addresses,' Hollander wrote.
Hollander directed DOGE to delete any personally identifiable data in its possession. On April 17, Hollander
Then on April 30, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit voted 9–6 to maintain Hollander's order while the appeal process continues.
On May 2, the Trump administration
In the May 13
The district court 'dictated to the Executive Branch which government employees can access which data and even prescribed necessary training, background checks, and paperwork for data access,' Sauer wrote.
'When district courts attempt to transform themselves into the human resources department for the Executive Branch, the irreparable harm to the government is clear,' he wrote.
When the courts 'stymie the government's initiatives to modernize badly outdated systems and combat rampant fraud—leaving those initiatives on a litigation track that may halt them for months or years—the irreparable harm is even clearer.'
Reviewing Social Security Administration data is important because the agency has 'one of the largest documented histories of improper payments,' Sauer added.
In a
The April 17 preliminary injunction should be left in place because it is 'narrow and, contrary to the government's assertions, permits SSA to disclose both anonymized and non-anonymized data to DOGE Team members,' the brief said.
The Supreme Court could rule on the government's emergency application at any time.
Jack Phillips contributed to this report.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Atlantic
34 minutes ago
- Atlantic
Kilmar Abrego Garcia Was Never Coming Back. Then He Did.
After insisting again and again that they would not bring Kilmar Abrego Garcia back to the United States, Trump-administration officials flew the 29-year-old Maryland man back from El Salvador today to face a grand-jury criminal indictment in Tennessee. Abrego Garcia's return doesn't mean he can go free. He now faces federal charges for human trafficking, according to the indictment unsealed today, and the Trump administration will get its opportunity to prove what it has long alleged about Abrego Garcia's membership in the gang MS-13. Even if prosecutors fail to convict him, the government could attempt to deport him to a third country—just not back to El Salvador. But by bringing him back to the United States, the Trump administration has climbed down from the court-defying pedestal where Vice President J. D. Vance, the adviser Stephen Miller, and Cabinet officials perched for months, claiming that Abrego Garcia's deportation was not, in fact, a mistake, and that he would never be allowed to set foot in the country again. Their obstinacy led to warnings of a constitutional crisis. Abrego Garcia's wife, a U.S. citizen, sued the government in March after he was deported to his native country in violation of a 2019 court order protecting him from being sent back to face likely harm. U.S. officials initially acknowledged that they'd made an 'administrative error,' then shrugged and said that the matter was out of their hands. White House officials remained dug in even as the Supreme Court ordered the administration to facilitate Abrego Garcia's return. 'There is no scenario where Abrego Garcia will be in the United States again,' Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem testified to lawmakers last month. Now, by bringing Abrego Garcia back to face criminal charges, the administration can quiet the constitutional concerns about his due-process rights and lay out the evidence it claims to possess showing that he is not a benign sheet-metal worker and devoted father but a gang leader and human trafficker. Attorney General Pam Bondi told reporters that Abrego Garcia 'played a significant role in an alien-smuggling ring.' The criminal charges, filed in the Middle District of Tennessee, allege that Abrego Garcia participated in a nine-year conspiracy that moved thousands of people to destinations across the United States and totaled more than 100 trips. The indictment also accuses him of gun running and drug smuggling. According to ABC News, which first reported on Abrego Garcia's return and the trafficking charges, the chief of the criminal division in the U.S. attorney's office in Nashville resigned after the indictment was filed. The attorney, Ben Schrader, declined to comment when I reached out to him this evening. Senator Chris Van Hollen, who traveled to El Salvador in April and was allowed by the country's authorities to meet with Abrego Garcia, said in a statement that the administration has 'finally relented to our demands for compliance with court orders and with the due process rights afforded to everyone in the United States.' 'As I have repeatedly said, this is not about the man, it's about his constitutional rights—and the rights of all,' Van Hollen said in the statement. 'The Administration will now have to make its case in the court of law, as it should have all along.' This is the second time in a week that Trump officials have relented on one of the cases in which federal judges ordered the government to bring back a deportee removed from the country without due process. A gay Guatemalan asylum seeker known in court documents as O.C.G., who was wrongly deported to Mexico, was allowed to return and pursue his protection claim on Wednesday. The Trump administration remains defiant elsewhere, however, holding a group of men from Laos, Vietnam, Cuba, and other nations in a shipping container on a U.S. military base in Djibouti while it attempts to deport them to South Sudan. Simon Sandoval-Mosenberg, an attorney for Abrego Garcia, told me the administration's decision to bring his client back is a sign that 'they were playing games with the court all along.' Standard legal procedure would entail filing criminal charges against an alleged perpetrator and convicting them prior to a deportation—not the other way around, as the Trump administration is now attempting, Sandoval-Mosenberg said. 'Due process means the chance to defend yourself before you're punished, not after,' he said. 'This is an abuse of power, not justice. The government should put him on trial, yes—but in front of the same immigration judge who heard his case in 2019, which is the ordinary manner of doing things.' After Abrego Garcia's return, government attorneys told U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis that they intend to file a motion to dismiss the case challenging his unlawful deportation. Abrego Garcia was stopped for speeding by Tennessee state troopers in December 2022 while driving a Chevy Suburban with nine male passengers, none of whom carried identification, according to the indictment. Abrego Garcia was cited for an expired license, but he was not arrested or charged with a crime, even though troopers flagged the incident as a potential trafficking case. Abrego Garcia told officers that he'd been sent by his employer to pick up the men for a construction job, and his family has said that he would sometimes drive workers between job sites. They have denied the government's claims that Abrego Garcia was an MS-13 member. Driving passengers for money wouldn't be a crime unless the government can prove that Abrego Garcia knew he was transporting passengers who were unlawfully present, Andrew Rankin, an immigration attorney in Memphis, told me. Participating in a criminal conspiracy to bring them across the U.S.-Mexico border, as the government alleges, would bring severer penalties. 'What did he know? Did he have actual knowledge? What was the discussion between each person and Abrego?' Rankin said. 'And if these people were in violation of the law, the government could offer immunity to testify against him.' The indictment identifies six unnamed co-conspirators and says that Abrego Garcia transported MS-13 gang members on the trips. One of the co-conspirators told investigators that Abrego Garcia 'abused some of the female undocumented aliens' and was ordered to stop because it was 'bad for business.' Rankin said it was highly unusual for the government to deport someone and then begin building a criminal indictment. 'Now that the government has had to essentially bend the knee to bring Mr. Abrego back, the government is upset, and they can't just let him go,' Rankin told me. 'They can't just let him out and just let him walk around like he did before.'
Hamilton Spectator
39 minutes ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Election observers at the OAS voice serious concerns about Mexico's contentious judicial elections
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Electoral watchdogs at the Organization of American States expressed concern Friday over the low turnout in Mexico's historic and contentious judicial elections, recommending that countries in the Americas not follow its path. In a report, the electoral mission said the June 1 election was 'extremely complex' and 'polarizing,' and was marked by a 'widespread lack of awareness' among voters about what they were voting for and who the thousands of candidates were. In Sunday's vote, Mexicans elected 881 federal judges and another 1,800 state judges as part of a complete overhaul of the judiciary. The process was carried out following a constitutional reform approved last year by a Congress with a ruling-party majority. The overhaul fueled protests and criticism within Mexico and by the American and Canadian governments, which warned of a potential loss of judicial independence and the politicization of justice in Mexico. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and her mentor and architect of the overhaul, former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador claimed they want to root out corruption in the judiciary, which most Mexicans agree is broken. Mexico's electoral authority said this week that voter turnout was 13%, significantly lower than the 60% turnout in last year's general elections. In the Friday report, the OAS mission — led by former Chilean Foreign Minister Heraldo Muñoz Valenzuela — expressed concern over 'the low level of citizen participation' and noted that 'this is one of the lowest turnout levels in the region.' Observers also pointed to the 'high percentage' of null and unmarked ballots, which exceeded 10%. 'It's necessary to carry out a comprehensive reflection on the nature of the (electoral) process and how it was conducted,' the report concluded. The OAS's 16-member observation mission also raised concerns about the nine candidates elected to join Mexico's Supreme Court who 'were promoted in physical and digital 'cheat sheets.'' While parties were not allowed to advocate for candidates, pamphlets known as 'accordions' guiding voters on which candidates to vote for were widely distributed. Mexican electoral authorities investigated complaints against the ruling Morena party and other opposition groups that distributed the voter guides in communities across the capital and other cities in the weeks leading up to the vote. The agency also ordered that a website featuring a digital cheat sheet with Morena-aligned candidates for the Supreme Court and other top tribunals be taken down. OAS observers also noted that six of the nine candidates elected to the high court had been nominated by the government controlled by Morena, and the remaining three were justices appointed by López Obrador, 'which raises reasonable doubts about the autonomy and independence of the highest court in relation to the Executive.' Given the findings, the mission concluded that 'it does not recommend this model of judge selection be replicated in other countries in the region.' Despite the criticism, Sheinbaum praised the election this week, calling it a success. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
Yahoo
40 minutes ago
- Yahoo
In major reversal, Kotek seeks return of fugitive suspected of targeting Asian Oregonians
Gov. Tina Kotek delivers her State of the State address on Monday, Jan. 13, 2025. She recently ordered the extradition of a suspected member of a multi-state burglary ring from Texas to Oregon. (Laura Tesler/Oregon Capital Chronicle/pool) Gov. Tina Kotek on Friday said she has ordered the extradition of a suspected member of a multi-state burglary ring from Texas to Oregon who allegedly targeted Asian households throughout the Eugene area, averting some of the blowback she faced for rejecting the extradition earlier this week. The reversal marks the second time in the past two weeks that Kotek has changed course in an extradition decision in the wake of public pressure. The governor made a more explicit reversal in May regarding the transfer of a woman accused of embezzling from Eugene Weekly, a move the locally-beloved newspaper has called 'an about-face.' This time, the decision to extradite came 'after further communication with the Lane County DA's office and review of the information provided,' Roxy Mayer, a Kotek press secretary, said in an email. The governor is 'still not moving forward' with the extradition of another member of the burglary ring who fled Oregon and who is being held in Texas with an Immigrations and Customs Enforcement hold. 'We were notified two days ago that the Governor's Office has changed their position on funding in [a] case where our Asian residents were targeted,' Lane County District Attorney Christopher Parosa said in a statement. 'I am grateful for that. It will go a long way to allowing us to make that community feel welcomed and protected in Lane County.' Parosa told The Register-Guard on Tuesday that Kotek's denial was out of the ordinary and 'seems to be an attempt by the governor's office to put that financial obligation on the local communities, who, of course, have never had that responsibility in the past.' He declined to elaborate on the state's extradition efforts to the Capital Chronicle but shared a statement in an email. 'It is my hope that further dialogue regarding extradition funding requests will occur between the Governor's Office and the Lane County District Attorney in the near future,' he said. Jennifer Jonak, a board member at the Eugene-based Asian American Council of Oregon, said in a statement that the group is 'grateful that the Governor's office has heard and taken into account the impact on our Asian American community.' Jonak said the council is still reviewing further details regarding the suspect still on ICE hold in Texas. 'We deeply appreciate the hard work of local law enforcement agencies and the Lane County DA's office who have worked so hard to obtain justice for the victims of these race-targeted offenses,' she said. The Oregon governor has the discretion to make decisions on extraditions in light of the sometimes high costs, a factor Kotek's office has highlighted when explaining its recent rejections of extradition requests. Costs of retrieving alleged criminals from other states have significantly increased since 2020, according to data shared by Kotek's office. The average cost of extraditions from 'non-shuttle states' – those are states that don't participate in cost-sharing and inter-state coordination with fugitive return – has risen about 30% since the 2019-2021 biennium. Police in Eugene described the burglaries as part of a 'multi-state crime ring targeting wealthy individuals of Asian descent, to include business owners, doctors, and others,' according to one February news release, including states such as Washington and Idaho. The suspects surveilled and targeted homeowners who they believed were likely to store valuables at home, police say. Authorities estimated similar crimes continued throughout summer and fall of 2024. While some suspects have been arrested and charged, many warrants remain standing nationwide as several alleged perpetrators are believed to have fled the country. Officials have not named or released a country of origin for the suspect. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
