A Baltimore-based federal judge has temporarily blocked Elon Musk ’s Department of Government Efficiency from access to Social Security Administration systems that hold personal data on millions of Americans.
The decision on Mar. 20 by U.S. District Judge Ellen L. Hollander in Maryland requires the DOGE team to delete any personally identifiable data they already may have obtained.
“The DOGE Team is essentially engaged in a fishing expedition at SSA, in search of a fraud epidemic, based on little more than suspicion,” Judge Hollander wrote in her 137-page ruling. “It has launched a search for the proverbial needle in the haystack, without any concrete knowledge that the needle is actually in the haystack. … Its method of doing so is tantamount to hitting a fly with a sledgehammer.”
Judge Hollander’s decision came after labor unions and retirees requested an emergency order limiting DOGE access to Social Security and its troves of personal data, citing privacy laws and potential information security risks.
A former Social Security official who observed the DOGE team sweep into the agency said she was profoundly concerned about sensitive information being exposed.
“This is a major win for working people and retirees across the country,” said Lee Saunders, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, in a statement. “The court saw that Elon Musk and his unqualified lackeys present a grave danger to Social Security and have illegally accessed the data of millions of Americans.”
The Trump administration says DOGE has a 10-person team of federal employees at Social Security, which is headquartered in Woodlawn, seven of whom have been granted read-only access to agency systems or personally identifiable information.
The Trump administration contends DOGE aims to eliminate widespread waste and fraudulent activities in the federal government.
On Thursday, President Trump suggested on his social media platform Truth Social that the U.S. Supreme Court should intervene as his administration has faced setbacks from federal judges.
“Unlawful Nationwide Injunctions by Radical Left Judges could very well lead to the destruction of our Country!” Trump posted. “These people are Lunatics, who do not care, even a little bit, about the repercussions from their very dangerous and incorrect Decisions and Rulings. … If [Chief] Justice [John] Roberts and the United States Supreme Court do not fix this toxic and unprecedented situation IMMEDIATELY, our Country is in very serious trouble!”
A New York native and Beth El congregant, Judge Hollander, 75, received her bachelor’s degree from Goucher College and earned her juris doctor from Georgetown University Law Center. She was admitted to the Maryland State Bar Association in 1974.
Judge Hollander was appointed to the District Court in 2010 by former President Barack Obama.
Jmore profiled her husband, Richard Hollander, in January of 2017 when his non-fiction book “Every Day Lasts a Year: A Jewish Family’s Correspondence from Poland” (Cambridge University Press) was turned into a play, “The Book of Joseph.”
The Hollanders have three three children, including Orioles broadcaster Brett Hollander.
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