Supreme Court Backs Trump in DOGE Data Access and Transparency Cases

The Supreme Court delivered two key wins Friday to the Trump administration in cases involving the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), including a decision granting the agency access to sensitive Social Security data on millions of Americans.

In a pair of rulings split along ideological lines, the court’s conservative majority backed the administration’s stance in the first major legal challenges involving DOGE, the agency formerly led by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk. The three liberal justices dissented in both cases.

The rulings come amid an increasingly public fallout between Trump and Musk, who departed his role in Washington following a rift that has included threats of canceled federal contracts and calls for impeachment. While the future of DOGE remains unclear without Musk at the helm, both men have publicly committed to its continued mission of rooting out government inefficiency.

In one case, the high court lifted a lower court order out of Maryland that had restricted DOGE’s access to Social Security Administration records under federal privacy law. The unsigned order allows the agency to move forward with reviewing SSA files as part of its work.

“We conclude that, under the present circumstances, SSA may proceed to afford members of the DOGE team access to the agency records in question in order for those members to do their work,” the court wrote.

DOGE officials say they need access to these records to identify waste, fraud and abuse, particularly within Social Security, which Musk has previously criticized as a “Ponzi scheme.”

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, writing in dissent, said the court’s action poses “grave privacy risks” by allowing “unfettered data access” despite DOGE’s failure to justify its need or prove compliance with privacy safeguards. Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan agreed, with Kagan writing separately.

The Social Security Administration maintains extensive data on nearly all Americans, including earnings histories, health records, and school information. U.S. District Judge Ellen Hollander had previously ruled that DOGE’s data request resembled a “fishing expedition” and allowed only limited, anonymized access under strict guidelines.

The administration, backed by Solicitor General D. John Sauer, argued that these restrictions make the agency’s work unmanageable. Sauer also accused lower court judges of overreach, saying they were improperly attempting to “micromanage” executive branch functions.

The plaintiffs, a coalition of labor unions and retirees represented by Democracy Forward, said the Supreme Court’s decision undermines protections for personal data. The group has filed more than two dozen lawsuits related to DOGE’s operations, which have included sweeping agency cuts and large-scale federal layoffs.

“This is a sad day for our democracy and a scary day for millions of people,” Democracy Forward said in a statement. “Elon Musk may have left D.C., but his influence continues to harm Americans.”

White House spokesperson Liz Huston welcomed the ruling: “The Supreme Court’s decision allowing the Trump administration to continue eliminating waste and modernizing outdated government systems is a major win for common sense and the rule of law.”

In a separate case Friday, the justices also extended a pause on a ruling that would have forced DOGE to publicly disclose internal records. That lawsuit, brought by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), argues DOGE operates as a federal agency and should be subject to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

The administration disputes that classification, saying DOGE is an advisory body not bound by FOIA requirements.

While the court did not settle the question of DOGE’s legal status, it agreed that U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper’s order for disclosure had been too broad.

These decisions are the latest in a broader legal war over Trump’s government reform agenda. Since taking office, his administration has faced hundreds of lawsuits challenging policies on immigration, education, federal workforce restructuring, and more.

Supreme Court Sides With Trump Administration In Two DOGE Cases Involving Data Access  was originally published on wolbbaltimore.com