The Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to allow the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to access sensitive Social Security data, furthering a legal battle over data privacy and executive authority.

What Happened: The emergency appeal comes after a divided federal court ruling that stopped DOGE from accessing personal data, including Americans' medical records and bank details.

"The government cannot eliminate waste and fraud," the administration said in its appeal, "if district courts bar the very agency personnel… from performing their jobs."

Chief Justice John Roberts is reviewing the case, with a May 12 deadline set for responses. Lower courts criticized the amount of data requested, with one judge calling DOGE's effort a "fishing expedition," according to CNN.

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Why It Matters: The case will demonstrate how far the executive branch can go in using personal data to update government systems. "District court control of decisions about internal access… constitutes inappropriate superintendence of a coequal branch," the administration said.

Earlier this month, reports emerged that two individuals linked to DOGE were provided accounts on classified U.S. government networks that manage sensitive nuclear weapons data.

DOGE has been previously linked with privacy and security concerns across other federal agencies, such as its attempts to access taxpayer data, and its reported tracking of employee communications using artificial intelligence tools.

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