An internal government watchdog and members of Congress are separately investigating new allegations that a Department of Government Efficiency staffer potentially misused sensitive Social Security data.
The Social Security Administration's inspector general notified the leaders of several House and Senate committees on Mar. 6 that it is reviewing an anonymous complaint "on matters relating to the potential misuse of SSA data by a former DOGE employee, among other allegations," according to a copy of the letter obtained by NPR.
This week, Congressional Democrats investigating DOGE's access to Social Security data also announced an expanded probe after receiving whistleblower information alleging a former DOGE software engineer at SSA claimed to have retained copies of sensitive databases filled with personal information about almost every living American. The whistleblower's allegations were first reported by the Washington Post on Tuesday.
According to the Post's reporting, the former DOGE employee claimed at least one database was held on a personal thumb drive, and claimed to have retained "God-level" access to SSA systems, the whistleblower alleged. The former staffer also allegedly told colleagues they wanted to share the data with their private-sector employer, the Post reported. NPR has not reviewed the whistleblower complaint.
Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the House Oversight committee's top Democrat, called the allegations "deeply disturbing" and said they...
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