DOGE Team's Access to Social Security Data Raises Concerns: Potential Violations of the Hatch Act Revealed
The DOGE team, led by Elon Musk, had members who had access to more data than previously disclosed, according to recent court filings. Two DOGE team members at the Social Security Administration were found to be in contact with an advocacy group aiming to challenge election results in certain states. This revelation led to potential violations of the Hatch Act, which prohibits government employees from using their positions for political purposes. The Justice Department disclosed these findings as part of a list of corrections to previous testimony by SSA officials during legal disputes over DOGE's access to Social Security data.
The disclosure by Elizabeth Shapiro, a senior Justice Department official, raised concerns about the misuse of Social Security data by DOGE team members. The SSA had initially believed that DOGE's work was focused on detecting fraud and improving technology within the agency. However, the recent revelations suggest that some team members may have shared data on unauthorized servers and accessed private information that was off-limits according to court rulings at the time. The potential involvement of DOGE team members in assisting the advocacy group with accessing SSA data for matching voter rolls has also come to light.
Shapiro's filing did not identify the two DOGE team members involved in the communications with the advocacy group or the specifics of the Voter Data Agreement. The White House and SSA officials have not yet commented on these developments. Additionally, the disclosure mentioned that Steve Davis, a senior adviser to Musk and DOGE's team, was included in an email containing a password-protected file with private information from Social Security systems. It remains unclear whether Davis accessed the file, as current SSA employees have been unable to verify its contents.
Despite SSA's assertion that DOGE never had access to its systems of record, there are indications that restricted data derived from Social Security systems may have been shared with Davis. The corrections also revealed instances where DOGE team members were granted access to private Social Security profiles and call center profiles containing private information, although it is uncertain whether this information was actually accessed. Furthermore, it was disclosed that DOGE team members used links to share data through the third-party server Cloudflare.
In conclusion, the recent disclosures regarding the DOGE team's access to Social Security data have raised concerns about potential violations of the Hatch Act and misuse of private information. The ongoing investigation will shed more light on the extent of data access and the involvement of DOGE team members in sharing information with external parties.