Judge extends ban on Musk's DOGE access to private Social Security data

FILE PHOTO: A woman holds a sign during a protest against cuts made by U.S. President Donald Trump's administration to the Social Security Administration, in White Plains, New York, U.S., March 22, 2025. REUTERS/Nathan Layne/File Photo

(Reuters) - A federal judge granted a preliminary injunction on Thursday that extends a ban on billionaire Elon Musk's aides from accessing private information on millions of Americans held in the Social Security Administration's computer systems.

U.S. District Judge Ellen Hollander of Maryland said Musk's Department of Government Efficiency had failed to show the need for the "unprecedented, unfettered access" it had sought to the SSA's data to achieve their stated goal of rooting out fraud.