A federal judge in Maryland on Thursday temporarily blocked the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from accessing millions of Americans’ personal data stored by the Social Security Administration (SSA).  In a scathing, 137-page opinion, U.S. District Judge Ellen Hollander sharply quest ioned DOGE’s unfettered access to Americans’ personally identifiable information. She blocked the advisory group from the SSA’s systems containing such data and ordered the deletion of any in DOGE’s possession.  “The DOGE Team is essentially engaged in a fishing expedition at SSA, in search of a fraud epidemic, based on little more than suspicion,” Hollander wrote. “It has launched a search for the proverbial needle in the haystack, without any concrete knowledge that the needle is actually in the haystack.”  A coalition of government unions, backed by the left-leaning legal organization Democracy Forward, sued over DOGE’s access to Social Security, claiming that its access to private personal information flouts privacy laws and the agency’s own rules and regulations.   The information in the SSA’s records includes Social Security numbers, medical and mental health records, bank data and earnings history.  In her ruling, Hollander said the government has “not even attempted” to explain why DOGE needs such sweeping access to Americans’ personal data, instead repeating its refrain that DOGE’s mission to root out fraud and modernize the bureaucracy must not be hindered.   The Justice Department (DOJ) had argued that granting a temporary restraining order would harm the public interest by limiting President Trump’s ability to effectuate his policy agenda, including slimming down the federal government. “Its method of doing so is tantamount to hitting a fly with a sledgehammer,” the judge wrote.  She directed DOJ lawyers to provide her with an explanation as to why each DOGE agent or affiliate is in need of nonanonymized access to personally identifiable information.  Hollander’s order does not preclude the SSA from providing DOGE with redacted or anonymized data. However, to receive that data, DOGE’s agents must receive all training typically required of individuals granted access to the SSA’s data systems, including on the laws and regulations governing privacy, she said.   Democracy Forward President Skye Perryman called the court’s decision “what accountability demands – forcing DOGE to delete every trace of the data it unlawfully accessed.”  “The court recognized the real and immediate dangers of DOGE’s reckless actions and took action to stop it,” Perryman said.   Updated at 4:49 p.m. EDT ...read more read less