A divided federal appeals court rejected the Trump administration’s bid to lift an order blocking the US Social Security Administration from giving the Elon Musk-spearheaded Department of Government Efficiency unfettered access to the data of millions of Americans.
The Richmond, Virginia-based 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals on a 9-6 vote declined to put on hold an injunction issued by a judge in Maryland who concluded the agency likely violated a federal privacy law by providing DOGE unlimited access to records.
Republican President Donald Trump’s administration could potentially now ask the US Supreme Court to intervene. White House spokesperson Liz Huston in a statement said Trump “will continue to seek all legal remedies available to ensure the will of the American people is executed.”
DOGE has swept through federal agencies as part of an effort by Trump and billionaire ally Musk to root out wasteful spending, slash jobs and dramatically overhaul the federal government.
The injunction at issue was secured by two labor unions and an advocacy group that sued SSA, Musk, DOGE and others in February, seeking to stop DOGE members from accessing some of the agency’s most sensitive data systems.
The SSA, which sends checks to 73 million retired and disabled Americans each month, is seen as a crucial provider of benefits.
Musk has falsely claimed that millions of deceased Americans are still receiving Social Security checks and that the system is rife with fraud. Trump, who has repeatedly pledged not to cut Social Security benefits, has also said it is beset with fraud.
US Circuit Judge Robert King in a concurring opinion on Wednesday said “this highly sensitive personal information has long been handed over to SSA by the American people with every reason to believe that the information would be fiercely protected.”
King, who like the other judges who voted against staying the injunction was appointed by a Democratic president, said that principle “has been flouted by the sudden grant to DOGE of unfettered access to SSA systems of record.”
He said evidence cited by Baltimore-based US District Judge Ellen Lipton Hollander in her April 17 decision showed that DOGE had no need for such access, which exceeded that allowed to all but a few experienced and trusted SSA employees.
Six Republican appointees dissented, including US Circuit Judge Julius Richardson, who said the case should have been treated the same as one in which a 2-1 panel of the court allowed DOGE to access data at the US Treasury and Education Departments and the Office of Personnel Management.
But King said the case over Social Security data was “substantially stronger” with “vastly greater stakes.”
The injunction the court left in place also requires DOGE and its affiliates to delete all personally identifiable information from the agency in their possession.