The Trump administration filed an emergency appeal to the US Supreme Court on Friday, May 2nd, requesting permission for the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) led by Elon Musk to access the Social Security Administration system, which contains personal data of millions of Americans.
This emergency appeal marks the first in a series of cases brought by the Trump administration to the US Supreme Court regarding the ability of the Department of Government Efficiency to rapidly carry out work across the federal government.
Previously, US District Judge Ellen Hollander in Maryland ruled at the end of March to temporarily restrict the DOGE team from accessing the Social Security Administration (SSA) system and its vast personal data database under federal privacy laws, and ordered the team to delete any personal identifying information they may have obtained.
According to court documents, the SSA holds personal records of nearly all individuals nationwide, including school records, bank details, wage information, and medical and mental health records of disability beneficiaries.
The Trump administration argues that the DOGE team needs authorization to access the SSA system to combat waste and fraud within this federal agency.
Musk is currently preparing to leave his position at the Department of Government Efficiency, but there are still pending tasks to be completed.
John Sauer, the Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Litigation at the Department of Justice, argued on Friday that the limitations imposed by the federal judge disrupt the important work of the DOGE and inappropriately interfere with decisions of the executive branch. In the emergency appeal to the Supreme Court, he wrote, “Without intervention, the preliminary injunction will only invite further judicial interference in the internal decision-making of the agency.”
Sauer requested the Supreme Court justices to prevent the order issued by Hollander from being enforced during the litigation.
Before the Trump administration’s emergency appeal to the Supreme Court, a federal appeals court denied immediate relief to lift the restrictions on DOGE’s access. However, conservative judges in the minority on the appeals court stated that there was no evidence indicating targeted surveillance or leakage of personal information by the DOGE team.
The lawsuit was initially brought by several unions and retirees represented by the legal organization Democracy Forward. The Supreme Court has asked them to respond to the government’s appeal by May 12.
Hollander’s order does allow DOGE staff to access anonymized data, but the Trump administration argues that under these restrictions, the team cannot effectively carry out its work.
*This article references reporting from The Associated Press.