{"id":2545261,"date":"2026-01-20T16:51:02","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T21:51:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/doj-admits-doge-may-have-mishandled-social-security-data\/"},"modified":"2026-01-20T16:52:56","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T21:52:56","slug":"doj-admits-doge-may-have-mishandled-social-security-data","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/doj-admits-doge-may-have-mishandled-social-security-data\/","title":{"rendered":"DOJ admits DOGE may have mishandled Social Security data"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdoj-admits-doge-may-have-mishandled-social-security-data%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2545261&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The Justice Department disclosed that two members of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) may have improperly handled Social Security Administration (SSA) data by using it to match <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/georgia-plans-to-cut-100000-names-off-state-voter-rolls-in-major-list-maintenance-effort\/\" title=\"Georgia Plans To Cut 100,000 Names Off State ... In \u2018Major List Maintenance Effort\u2019\">state voter rolls<\/a>, possibly violating the Hatch Act. The admission appears in a court filing by DOJ Civil Division official Elizabeth Shapiro, who said the SSA referred the two DOGE employees to the Office of Special Counsel for possible Hatch Act violations.<\/p>\n<p>SSA had originally allowed DOGE access to records to investigate waste, fraud, and abuse, but its review found signs the DOGE team might have been communicating with a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/catholic-vote-president-government-has-no-authority-to-tell-americans-what-they-can-or-cannot-believe\/\" title=\"Catholic Vote President: Government Has \u2018No Authority\u2019 To Tell Americans \u2018What They Can Or Cannot Believe\u2019\">political advocacy group<\/a> that sought to analyze state voter rolls to identify alleged voter fraud and overturn election results. One DOGE employee signed a &#8220;Voter Data Agreement&#8221; in March 2025 that SSA staff outside the DOGE team where not aware of; SSA only learned of the agreement during an unrelated review in November 2025.<\/p>\n<p>The filing says it remains unclear whether SSA data were actually shared with the advocacy group,but emails suggest DOGE members could have been asked to assist by matching SSA data to voter rolls. The SSA also found that data may have been exposed on an unapproved third\u2011party server (Cloudflare), and it could not determine what, if anything, was shared or remains on that server.A review of the DOGE team&#8217;s actions is ongoing, and DOJ\/SSA officials told the court they will continue to update the record.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">DOJ admits DOGE may have mishandled Social Security data in violation of Hatch Act<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2471984\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>The <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/department-of-justice\/\">Justice Department<\/a> admitted that two members of the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/department-of-government-efficiency\/\">Department of Government Efficiency<\/a>, led by Elon Musk at one point last year, may have mishandled <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/social-security\/\">Social Security<\/a> data by using it to match with state voter rolls in violation of the Hatch Act.<\/p>\n<p>The alleged misconduct was revealed in a <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.mdd.577321\/gov.uscourts.mdd.577321.197.0.pdf\">court document<\/a> filed Friday by DOJ Civil Division official Elizabeth Shapiro, who said the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/social-security-administration\/\">Social Security Administration<\/a> referred two unidentified DOGE employees to the Office of Special Counsel for possible Hatch Act violations last month.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/4426288\/doj-serves-grand-jury-subpoenas-minnesota-democrats-alleged-ice-obstruction\/\">DOJ serves grand jury subpoenas to Minnesota Democrats over alleged ICE obstruction<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/4425628\/virginia-federal-judges-seek-replacement-trump-appointed-lindsey-halligan\/\">Virginia federal judges seek replacement for Trump-appointed prosecutor Lindsey Halligan<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/4425696\/judge-declines-block-ice-advanced-notice-policy-congressional-oversight\/\">Judge declines to block ICE advanced notice policy for congressional oversight<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >federal law prohibits government employees<\/a> from using their positions for political purposes.<\/p>\n<p>SSA officials believed the DOGE employees needed to access the agency&rsquo;s records to root out waste, fraud, and abuse, Shapiro explained. However, the SSA determined that the DOGE team may have had an ulterior motive.<\/p>\n<p>A political advocacy group allegedly contacted DOGE to analyze state voter rolls it had acquired, according to the court document. The purported purpose of the request was to uncover voter fraud and overturn election results in some states.<\/p>\n<p>While communicating with the unnamed political advocacy group, one of the DOGE employees signed a &ldquo;Voter Data Agreement&rdquo; in March 2025.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;At this time, there is no evidence that SSA employees outside of the involved members of the DOGE Team were aware of the communications with the advocacy group. Nor were they aware of the &lsquo;Voter Data Agreement,&#8217;&rdquo; Shapiro wrote. &ldquo;This agreement was not reviewed or approved through the agency&rsquo;s data exchange procedures. SSA first learned about this agreement during a review unrelated to this case in November 2025.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The DOJ official stressed it remains unclear whether the two DOGE team members actually shared data with the political advocacy group. However, she noted, emails &ldquo;suggest that DOGE Team members could have been asked to assist the advocacy group by accessing SSA data to match to the voter rolls.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/4364490\/hud-billions-possible-payment-errors-incentivized-under-biden-administration\/\">HUD FINDS BILLIONS WORTH OF POSSIBLE PAYMENT ERRORS &lsquo;INCENTIVIZED&rsquo; UNDER BIDEN ADMINISTRATION<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Social Security data in question was allegedly shared via an unapproved third-party server named Cloudflare, unbeknownst to the SSA. The agency was unable to determine what data was shared on Cloudflare or whether it remains on the third-party server.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;SSA and the undersigned counsel bring these matters to the Court&rsquo;s attention to ensure full candor to the Court,&rdquo; Shapiro wrote at the end of her filing. &ldquo;A review of the SSA DOGE Team&rsquo;s actions is ongoing, and SSA and the undersigned counsel will continue to ensure that the record and representations made to this Court are accurate.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>DOJ: DOGE may have misused Social Security data<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2159,"featured_media":2545262,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/AP25073685321141.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[19536,71522,7076,4325,69551],"class_list":["post-2545261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner","tag-cybersecurity","tag-data-breach-2","tag-doj","tag-privacy","tag-social-security-2"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/AP25073685321141.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2545261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2159"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2545261"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2545261\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2545265,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2545261\/revisions\/2545265"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2545262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2545261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2545261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2545261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}