Washington, D.C. – Democracy Forward President and CEO Skye Perryman was on Capitol Hill today with members of Congress, led by Rep. John Larson, to call on the Trump-Vance administration to release information regarding the unlawful access and neglect of basic security measures by Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) employees as they attempted to misuse access to Americans’ personal Social Security data.
Perryman joined Larson, Ways & Means Committee Ranking Member Richard Neal, Reps. Linda Sanchez, Judy Chu, Steven Horsford, and Tom Suozzi; Rich Fiesta, Executive Director of the Alliance for Retired Americans (ARA); Sejal Jhaveri, Senior Legal Counsel at the Campaign Legal Center; Diana Lyles, a member of Maryland AFSCME Retirees Chapter 1; and Federick Ingram, Secretary-Treasurer of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) at a press conference where Larson announced the introduction of a Resolution of Inquiry that would compel the Trump-Vance administration to hand over all records relating to the Social Security Administration (SSA) data breach that was disclosed through Democracy Forward’s case, AFSCME et. al. v. SSA et. al.
On January 16, 2026, the government filed a “Notice of Corrections to the Record” in Democracy Forward’s ongoing federal court action that is seeking to protect Americans’ sensitive data from DOGE. In its notice, the government disclosed a number of misstatements, omissions, and inaccuracies in information the government had previously provided to the court. We now know that not only did DOGE staff access SSA data, they exfiltrated the data to third parties, and entered a “voter data agreement” with an organization that actively seeks “to find evidence of voter fraud and to overturn election results in certain states.” Democracy Forward was back in court this week, to request further discovery to understand the extent to which Americans’ information was compromised.
“The way in which the Trump-Vance administration jeopardized the safety and security of Americans’ most sensitive data – including bank account numbers, health records, and wage histories – should alarm every American. But equally alarming is that DOGE appeared to mine that information and share it with undisclosed and unsecure organizations seemingly committed to undermining election integrity,” said Democracy Forward President & CEO Skye Perryman. “We will get to the bottom of the facts, using all legal tools available to protect our democracy. But we can’t handle this in the courtroom alone. It’s going to take all of us, in the courts, in the Congress, and in the streets, to demand accountability from this administration.”
More information about AFSCME et. al. v. SSA et. al. is available here.
– # # # –
Democracy Forward is a national legal organization that advances democracy and social progress through litigation, policy, public education, and regulatory engagement. For more information, please visit www.democracyforward.org.
