Trump administration urges Supreme Court to unblock data access
The Trump administration on Friday petitioned the Supreme Court to allow members of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to access sensitive personal data from Social Insurance agencies. Elon Musk is the face of DOGE.
The government is seeking to overturn a decision by Federal Judge Ellen L. Hollander from Maryland, who ruled that Musk's team's monitoring of Social Insurance information systems could violate federal privacy regulations.
Trump administration lawyers argue that Social Insurance data could assist in a broader strategy to reduce immigration, at a time when the president is pursuing actions aimed at deporting students and other foreign citizens.
In her ruling, Hollander stated that interfering in the personal affairs of millions of Americans — without adequate justification — is not in the public interest.
Her decision was challenged by Attorney General D. John Sauer.
Sauer argued that this extraordinary request concerns a well-known issue: the district court issued a sweeping injunction without legal basis, causing ongoing, irreversible harm to federal priorities and hindering the functioning of the executive branch.
According to Sauer, Judge Hollander, appointed by President Barack Obama, exceeded her authority.
"The district court is forcing the Executive Branch to stop employees charged with modernizing government information systems from accessing the data in those systems because, in the court's judgment, those employees do not 'need' such access," argued the prosecutor.
In his opinion, if district courts block the actions of specialists involved in reforming information systems, the government will not be able to effectively eliminate waste and fraud.
Trump administration strikes at the judiciary
Trump and his allies have repeatedly criticized lower court judges for blocking their initiatives, including issuing nationwide orders.
The "NYT" notes that the Republican administration filed several petitions with the Supreme Court in recent weeks, including one related to immigration. Some await the decision of the judges, who are scheduled to hear arguments on May 15 at 10:00 a.m. ET regarding the scope of permissible court orders challenging the president's efforts to end the automatic granting of citizenship to individuals born in the USA.
