
Ƶ v. Social Security Administration (FOIA)
What's at Stake
The Ƶ seeks expedited processing of FOIA requests it submitted to the Social Security Administration and Department of Veterans Affairs requesting records regarding access to Americans’ health, financial, and other sensitive personal information by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency.
Summary
Since President Trump established DOGE on January 20, 2025, news outlets have reported that DOGE has requested or gained access to numerous government systems containing highly sensitive data, including those of the Social Security Administration (SSA) and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). On February 7, 2025, the Ƶ submitted FOIA requests to more than forty agencies, including the SSA and VA, to obtain information about what sensitive data DOGE has accessed and about DOGE’s use of artificial intelligence to analyze the data. Although a number of agencies granted the Ƶ’s request for expedited processing of the FOIA requests, in light of the extraordinary public interest in information about possible abuse of Americans’ personal information, neither SSA nor VA has granted expedited processing.
Transparency about DOGE’s secretive efforts to access government data is particularly important here, given the nature of the information that the SSA and the VA control. The SSA holds vast quantities of sensitive personal and financial data. As one court put it in an order barring DOGE personnel from accessing SSA data systems, the data the agency holds includes “Social Security numbers, medical records, mental health records, hospitalization records, drivers’ license numbers, bank and credit card information, tax information, income history, work history, birth and marriage certificates, and home and work addresses.” Yet, as the Washington Post recently reported, DOGE personnel have gone to great lengths to try to circumvent that court order. The VA also maintains highly sensitive personal information, including veterans’medical records, benefits information, military service records, as well as information about every benefit-seeking veteran’s spouses, children, caregivers, and survivors.
The Ƶ’s lawsuit asks the court to order the SSA and VA process the FOIA requests on an expedited basis, given the privacy risks at stake.
Legal Documents
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04/21/2025
Complaint
Date Filed: 04/21/2025
Court: U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
Affiliate: Washington, D.C.