Leland Dudek, acting commissioner for the Social Security Administration (SSA), said as of Monday the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) no longer has access to the agency’s systems in an effort to comply with court orders.
Dudek submitted a declaration confirming that DOGE employees’ access to systems containing personally identifiable information (PII) or systems of record was revoked.
He also claimed Elon Musk and Amy Gleason, who were named as DOGE Defendants, have never had access to SSA systems of record.
“Before seeking to provide access to systems or records containing PII any DOGE Defendant, SSA DOGE Team member, or DOGE Affiliate, SSA will ensure that the individual seeking access has been provided all training required for such access; that a background investigation has been completed comparable to the quality of an investigation for SSA employees with similar access, including execution of SSA documents acknowledging the duty to protect PII; and that any agreement concerning the individual’s employment at SSA (such as detail agreements) is complete,” Dudek wrote.
“Moreover, before seeking to provide any SSA DOGE Team member access to non-anonymized data from SSA systems containing PII, SSA will obtain from the SSA DOGE Team member, in writing, a detailed explanation as to the need for the record and why, for said particular and discrete record, an anonymized or redacted record is not suitable for the specified use,” he added.
U.S. District Judge Ellen Hollander issued a 137-page opinion on Thursday upholding her decision to temporarily block DOGE’s access to citizens’ sensitive information while outlining the potential harm of an unwarranted probe in violation of the Privacy Act.
Her order comes as the SSA works to recover from mass layoffs and prepares to close 47 field offices at the direction of DOGE.
Dudek has also issued new policies for the agency including limiting account holder verification to online confirmation or in-person authentication for certain transactions rupturing the agency’s status quo.
The Hill reached out to the SSA and DOGE for comment.
