WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The pinnacle of the U.S. Social Safety Administration has backed down from “shutting down the company” after a federal decide rebuked him for misinterpreting a court docket ruling that restricted billionaire Elon Musk’s entry to company data.
The company’s chief, Leland Dudek, who has been cooperating with a Musk-led group tasked with lowering authorities waste, mentioned in an announcement on Friday that the court docket had clarified its ruling.
“Subsequently, I’m not shutting down the company,” mentioned Dudek, who was appointed by U.S. President Donald Trump because the company’s appearing commissioner.
The Social Safety Administration administers advantages for tens of tens of millions of older People and folks with disabilities.
Since taking workplace in January, Trump has vowed to scale back the scale of presidency, tapping Musk to steer an effort to scale back authorities waste. Trump and Musk say social safety fraud is rampant and that Musk’s group, referred to as DOGE, wants entry to company knowledge to determine folks committing fraud to obtain advantages funds.
However on Thursday, U.S. District Decide Ellen Lipton Hollander dominated the company most likely violated privateness legal guidelines by giving Musk aides “unbridled entry” to the information of tens of millions of People. She ordered a halt to detailed record-sharing between Dudek’s company and Musk’s DOGE.
Dudek advised U.S. media retailers together with Bloomberg Information and the Washington Submit that the court docket’s order would require him additionally to limit entry to the data for company workers, which might successfully shut the company down.
Hollander dismissed that view on Friday. “Such assertions in regards to the scope of the order are inaccurate,” the decide wrote in a letter to authorities counsel.
She mentioned her ruling on Thursday said clearly that Musk’s staff may nonetheless entry information when personally identifiable data, similar to names and social safety numbers, had been redacted. The decide mentioned the order was clear that company workers may nonetheless entry the unredacted paperwork.
“Any suggestion that the order might require the delay or suspension of profit funds is inaccurate,” Hollander mentioned.
The Trump administration’s efforts on the Social Safety Administration have unsettled many retirees.
Greater than 100 folks – together with retirees and union members – gathered in a car parking zone in White Plains, New York, on Saturday to protest the closure of an area Social Safety workplace. George Latimer, a Democrat who represents the world in Congress, was among the many politicians and union leaders in attendance.
Demonstrators held indicators studying “Get Your Monstrous Arms Off Social Safety” and “My Mom higher get her examine!”
The authorized case involving Dudek has make clear the quantity of non-public data DOGE staffers have been given entry to within the databases, and Thursday’s ruling was probably the most vital authorized setbacks for DOGE up to now.
Thursday’s ruling mentioned the data within the Social Safety Administration’s information consists of social safety numbers, private medical and psychological well being information, driver’s license particulars, checking account knowledge, tax data, earnings historical past, beginning and marriage information, and employment and employer information.
(Reporting by Jason Lange in Washington and Nathan Layne in White Plains, New York; Modifying by Mary Milliken and Daniel Wallis)
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