Social Security whistleblower who claims DOGE mishandled Americans'
sensitive data resigns from post
[August 30, 2025]
By AAMER MADHANI
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Social Security official who has filed a
whistleblower complaint alleging the Department of Government Efficiency
officials mishandled Americans' sensitive information says he's
resigning his post because of actions taken against him since making his
complaint.
Charles Borges, the agency's chief data officer, alleged that more than
300 million Americans’ Social Security data was put at risk by DOGE
officials who uploaded sensitive information to a cloud account not
subject to oversight. His whistleblower disclosure was submitted to the
special counsel’s office on Tuesday.
In a letter to SSA Commissioner Frank Bisignano, Borges claimed that
since filing his whistleblower complaint, the agency's actions make his
duties “impossible to perform legally and ethically” and have caused him
“physical, mental and emotional distress.”
“After reporting internally to management and externally to regulators,
serious data and security and integrity concerns impacting our citizens’
most sensitive personal data, I have suffered exclusion, isolation,
internal strife, and a culture of fear, creating a hostile work
environment and making work conditions intolerable,” Borges added.
The Project Government Accountability Office, which is representing him
in his whistleblower case, posted Borges' resignation letter on its
website Friday evening. Borges declined to comment.
[to top of second column]
|
“He no longer felt that he could continue to work for the Social
Security Administration in good conscience, given what he had
witnessed,” his attorney Andrea Meza said in a statement. She added
that Borges would continue to work with the proper oversight bodies
on the matter.
In his whistleblower's complaint, Borges said the potentially
sensitive information put at risk by DOGE's actions includes health
diagnoses, income, banking information, familial relationships and
personal biographic data.
“Should bad actors gain access to this cloud environment, Americans
may be susceptible to widespread identity theft, may lose vital
healthcare and food benefits, and the government may be responsible
for re-issuing every American a new Social Security Number at great
cost,” said the complaint.
Borges had served as the Social Security Administration's chief data
officer since January.
The SSA declined to comment on Borges’ resignation or allegations
against the agency in his letter to colleagues.
President Donald Trump’s DOGE has faced scrutiny as it received
unprecedented access from the Republican administration to troves of
personal data across the government under the mandate of eliminating
waste, fraud and abuse.
Labor and retiree groups sued SSA earlier this year for allowing
DOGE to access Americans’ sensitive agency data, though a divided
appeals panel decided this month that DOGE could access the
information.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
