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social security administration
'Now We Know Why Trump Fired the Inspector General at Social Security,' Says Watchdog Group
New revelations show an IG report about wait times for people seeking help or services was altered after it was submitted to the administration.
Mar 19, 2026
A Social Security advocacy organization on Thursday blasted the Trump administration for covering up damaging information contained in an inspector general report released in December.
According to The Washington Post, a report from the Social Security Administration's (SSA) inspector general (IG) about call wait times for beneficiaries was altered to make it seem as though wait times to speak to representatives had been reduced to under 10 minutes per call.
"An unpublished draft of the report... showed that the inspector general had planned to report another metric—called the 'total wait time'—to measure the overall time it takes for callers to be connected with an SSA employee," the Post explained. "According to that draft report, in 2025 total wait time averaged 46 minutes to over two hours."
The Post added that this "information was deleted from the draft after the agency reviewed it before publication."
Nancy Altman, president of Social Security Works, responded to the report by saying that "now we know why [President Donald] Trump fired the inspector general at Social Security," noting that the SSA IG was one of several fired across multiple agencies at the start of Trump's second term.
Altman then argued that the attack on inspectors general was part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to dismantle government transparency all together.
"Inspectors general are the American peoples’ eyes and ears in these agencies," said Altman. "The Trump administration is undermining that oversight at every turn. Under this administration, the IG has no ability to conduct independent oversight. There is no meaningful check on the Trump administration’s Social Security sabotage."
Democratic communications consultant Jesse Lee linked the damage to the SSA documented in the draft IG report to efforts by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which went on a firing spree of federal workers last year.
"So DOGE did a smash and grab at the Social Security Administration, breaking into the most sensitive data, firing phone and in-person case workers," Lee wrote. "Trump appointee waved around an IG report claiming wait times were fine—after burying the real report saying they were up to two hours."
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'Massive, Illegal, and Horrific Breach': Ex-DOGE Staffer Allegedly Stole Social Security Data
"Americans deserve timely, honest answers about what happened, whose information may have been exposed, what will be done to protect them going forward," said one campaigner.
Mar 10, 2026
Critics of the Department of Government Efficiency are sounding the alarm after the Washington Post reported Tuesday that the Social Security Administration's inspector general is investigating a whistleblower complaint accusing a former DOGE staffer of trying to share information from SSA databases with his private employer.
The Post didn't name the former DOGE software engineer, the company, or the whistleblower. However, the reporters spoke with the whistleblower and other unnamed sources, and also reviewed the related complaint as well as a letter from the acting inspector general to top members of four congressional committees.
The ex-DOGE staffer allegedly told multiple colleagues that he possessed two key databases of sensitive information on over 500 million living and dead US citizens, "Numident" and the "Master Death File," and once he removed personal details, he wanted to plug the remaining data into his company's system.
The newspaper noted that "the complaint does not allege that the engineer was successful in uploading the data to the company's system," and "a lawyer who represents the former DOGE member told the Post he denied all alleged wrongdoing."
The reporting adds to a long list of concerns and criticism provoked by DOGE, which President Donald Trump launched shortly after taking office. Billionaire Elon Musk was the de facto leader of the government-gutting initiative until he departed the administration last May.
Responding to the report on Musk's social media platform X, Congressman John Larson (D-Conn.), a longtime defender of Social Security, declared that "we need a full congressional investigation and answers!"
DOGE was never about efficiency or saving $—it was about handing Social Security over to Wall Street, dismantling public services & making it impossible to hold corporations accountable. That's why federal workers have been sounding the alarm—and we won't stop fighting back. #wetookanoath
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— Federal Workers United (@fedworkersunited.bsky.social) March 10, 2026 at 4:54 PM
House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Ranking Member Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) announced that he is expanding his investigation of DOGE-related data leaks at the SSA over the allegations. He said in a statement that "the deeply disturbing whistleblower information obtained by the committee shows the Trump administration's callous disregard for the safety and security of Americans' most sensitive information."
"Not only has an ex-DOGE bro been accused of running around with the social security information of every American on a flash drive, he also may have the ability to edit and manipulate data at the Social Security Administration at will," Garcia continued. "This is dangerous and outrageous, and Oversight Committee Democrats will fight for transparency and accountability."
Richard Fiesta, executive director of the Alliance for Retired Americans, similarly said: "Allegations that a 'DOGE bro' may have removed highly sensitive Social Security data onto a thumb drive should set off alarm bells across the country. Social Security holds some of the most personal information Americans have, including Social Security numbers, birth and health records, and lifetime earnings histories. If these reports are accurate, it is a stunning, illegal data security breach."
"Americans deserve timely, honest answers about what happened, whose information may have been exposed, what will be done to protect them going forward," he argued. "Anyone involved must be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. Congress and the Social Security inspector general must move quickly to get the facts and ensure that all involved in this reported data breach are punished."
Criminal theft of the American people's private Social Security data.
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— Social Security Works (@socialsecurityworks.org) March 10, 2026 at 2:51 PM
Public Citizen co-president Lisa Gilbert also demanded accountability. She said that "this massive, illegal, and horrific breach of Americans' most sensitive data has confirmed the very fears we've been warning about for over a year—that the Trump administration allowing DOGE to infiltrate our government without oversight created fertile ground for abuse, and in this case of an exceptionally egregious kind."
"These are the kinds of breaches that Public Citizen had previously sued the government to prevent," she added. "Federal and state officials must ensure the misuse of this data ends immediately and that all private copies of Social Security data are destroyed. Prosecutors should open a criminal investigation immediately and, if the evidence supports it, prosecute this case aggressively."
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DOGE Employees May Have Improperly Accessed Social Security Data With Aim to 'Overturn Election Results'
The DOJ filing also appeared to corroborate claims that DOGE employees improperly tried to make "a live copy of the country’s Social Security information" on a third-party cloud platform.
Jan 20, 2026
The US Department of Justice acknowledged last week that two members of the Department of Government Efficiency may have improperly accessed Social Security data at the request of an unidentified organization whose goal is challenging US election results.
In a court filing dated January 16, the DOJ revealed that the unidentified organization last March reached out to two DOGE employees, who were working at the Social Security Administration (SSA), and requested that they "analyze state voter rolls that the advocacy group had acquired."
"The advocacy group’s stated aim was to find evidence of voter fraud and to overturn election results in certain states," the DOJ wrote. "In connection with these communications, one of the DOGE team members signed a 'Voter Data Agreement,' in his capacity as an SSA employee, with the advocacy group."
The filing said that SSA has "not yet seen evidence that SSA data were shared with the advocacy group," but that it had reviewed emails indicating that "DOGE team members could have been asked to assist the advocacy group by accessing SSA data to match to the voter rolls."
The DOJ also revealed that the SSA in December 2025 made referrals of the two DOGE employees to the US Office of Special Counsel for possible violations of the Hatch Act, which bars federal government employees from using their positions for political purposes.
Politico, which first reported on the DOJ filing, noted that the disclosure "came as part of a list of 'corrections' to testimony by top SSA officials during last year’s legal battles over DOGE’s access to Social Security data," and also included revelations that "DOGE team members shared data on unapproved 'third-party' servers and may have accessed private information that had been ruled off-limits by a court at the time."
The admission that DOGE employees shared data on a third-party server bolsters an explosive whistleblower complaint filed in August from former SSA chief data officer Charles Borges, who alleged that DOGE officials have been responsible for “serious data security lapses” that “risk the security of over 300 million Americans’ Social Security data.”
At the heart of Borges’ complaint was an effort by DOGE employees to make “a live copy of the country’s Social Security information in a cloud environment” that “apparently lacks any security oversight from SSA or tracking to determine who is accessing or has accessed the copy of this data.”
Should hackers gain access to this copy of Social Security data, the Borges complaint warned, it could result in identity theft on an unprecedented scale and lead to the loss of crucial food and healthcare benefits for millions of Americans. In a worst-case scenario, the complaint said, the government may also have to give every American a new Social Security number “at great cost.”
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