The US Supreme Court on Friday granted billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency access to personal information on millions of Americans amid an extended legal battle. DOGE plays a very important role in the Trump administration’s aim to slash the federal workforce. According to Reuters, the justices put on hold Maryland-based US District Judge Ellen Hollander’s order that blocked DOGE’s access to the personal information of Americans.
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Maryland Judge’s order put on hold
Judge Hollander’s order blocked DOGE’s access to the Social Security data systems that contained the medical and financial records of millions of Americans. It was cited in the order that granting such access could violate federal privacy laws in the country.
According to NBC, the conservative-majority court granted an emergency application filed by the Trump administration. The application requested the justices to lift an injunction issued by a federal judge in Maryland.
Development comes around Musk-Trump fallout
This comes at a time when Donald Trump and Elon Musk are caught in the middle of a major feud, with the latter taking to X to criticize the reigning US President. The Social Security data request was made by the Elon Musk-led DOGE before the fallout between the billionaire and the President. At the time, DOGE wanted to modernize the existing systems and detect waste and fraud at different levels. Their request revolved around Social Security numbers, medical records, and crucial financial information of Americans.
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“These teams have a business need to access the data at their assigned agency and subject the government’s records to much-needed scrutiny,” Solicitor General D. John Sauer was quoted as writing in the court documents.
Meanwhile, the challengers’ lawyers wrote, “The agency is obligated by the Privacy Act and its own regulations, practices, and procedures to keep that information secure — and not to share it beyond the circle of those who truly need it,” according to the court documents.
