Overview

• The court’s unsigned 6-3 order stays a Maryland injunction and authorizes DOGE personnel to access SSA systems containing Social Security numbers, medical histories, tax filings and other personal data
• Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan dissented, warning that granting access before full review creates grave privacy risks for millions of Americans
• DOGE was established by President Trump and initially led by Elon Musk to identify waste, fraud and abuse across federal agencies but has repeatedly clashed with courts over its broad data demands
• In a separate emergency ruling, the court also paused a lower court’s discovery order under the Freedom of Information Act, shielding DOGE’s internal records from immediate release
• The decisions highlight deepening tensions between executive authority, judicial oversight and data privacy as litigation over DOGE’s mandate continues