Full 4th Cir. to Review Bar on DOGE Social Security Access

The Trump administration’s bid to reverse a lower court order barring the Department of Government Efficiency from accessing sensitive data at the Social Security Administration will be heard by the full Fourth Circuit, the federal appeals court said in a Tuesday order.

The en banc hearing will consider whether a federal trial court’s injunction should be allowed to stand. Judge Ellen Hollander, of the US District Court for the District of Maryland, granted the injunction in a suit led by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO alleging that DOGE’s unrestricted access to Social Security data violates the Privacy Act and the Administrative Procedure Act.

• The Fourth Circuit in a divided en banc opinion rejected the government’s request to stay the injunction pending its appeal, with the majority writing that the record shows DOGE’s access to the data “exceeded that allowed to all but the few most experienced and trusted SSA employees”
• The dissenting judges said they would have granted the stay, since the plaintiffs failed to allege a concrete harm
• The government argued the injunction “represents an improper effort by a district judge to usurp Article II authority and to micromanage the Executive Branch”

Democracy Forward Foundation and Complex Appellate Litigation Group LLP represent the plaintiffs.

The case is Am. Fed’n of State, Cty., & Mun. Emps. v. Social Sec. Admin., 4th Cir., No. 25-01411, 5/6/25.