Unions ask court to stop DOGE from accessing Social Security data of millions of Americans
Source: NBC News/AP
March 8, 2025, 10:43 AM EST
WASHINGTON (AP) — A group of labor unions are asking a federal court for an emergency order to stop Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency from accessing the sensitive Social Security data of millions of Americans.
The motion for emergency relief was filed late Friday in federal court in Maryland by the legal services group Democracy Forward against the Social Security Administration and its acting commissioner, Leland Dudek. The unions want the court to block DOGE’s access to the vast troves of personal data held by the agency.
Included in the filing is an affidavit from Tiffany Flick, a former senior official at the agency who says career civil servants are trying to protect the data from DOGE. “A disregard for our careful privacy systems and processes now threatens the security the data SSA houses about millions of Americans,” Flick wrote in court documents.
Karianne Jones, a lawyer for the unions and a retiree group behind the lawsuit, said it is not fully clear what kind of access that DOGE might have to personal data about taxpayers. But she said the apparent scope and the lack of information about what DOGE is looking for mean the potential impact is “huge.”
Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/doge/unions-ask-court-stop-doge-accessing-social-security-data-rcna195459
This looks to be a new suit filed last night.
Link to Democracy Forward PRESS RELEASE - Unions, Retirees Seek Emergency Relief to Block DOGE’s Unlawful Social Security Data Overreach
Link to AMENDED COMPLAINT (PDF) - https://democracyforward.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/AFSCME-et-al-v-SSA-Amended-Complaint-3.7.25.pdf
Link to MOTION (PDF) - https://democracyforward.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Motion-for-TRO-AFSCME-v-SSA-3.7.25.pdf
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