SSA chief data officer resigns after filing whistleblower complaint

Charles Borges, the main information serviceman astatine the Social Security Administration, resigned Friday — days aft filing a whistleblower ailment about Department of Government Efficiency employees astatine the SSA. 

He said successful the ailment that the DOGE employees had uploaded a transcript of the full country's Social Security accusation to a "vulnerable unreality environment." Borges' resignation from the SSA was confirmed by the Government Accountability Project, which is providing his ineligible representation.

A Social Security Administration spokesperson refuted the assertion successful a statement, saying that the information referenced had been "walled off" from the internet, and the SSA is "not alert of immoderate compromise to this environment."

"The information referenced successful the ailment is stored successful a long-standing situation utilized by SSA and walled disconnected from the internet," the spokesperson said.

In June, the Supreme Court temporarily lifted a little court's injunction and cleared the mode to let DOGE to entree delicate Social Security information. Two labour unions and an advocacy radical had filed a ailment claiming that allowing the entree would interruption the Privacy Act and a national law. A little tribunal agreed with the plaintiffs and issued an injunction, and an appellate tribunal besides declined to assistance the stay. Solicitor General D. John Sauer past appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that the injunction was forcing the enforcement subdivision to halt national employees tasked with modernizing authorities systems from accessing the information contained wrong them.

In Borges' resignation letter, sent Friday to SSA Commissioner Frank Bisignano, helium wrote that helium was resigning involuntarily due to the fact that of "SSA's actions against me, which marque my duties intolerable to execute legally and ethically." He said his departure constituted a "constructive discharge." 

Borges said successful his missive that helium has faced retaliation since helium reported his concerns internally and subsequently submitted his whistleblower complaint. "I person suffered exclusion, isolation, interior strife, and a civilization of fear, creating a hostile enactment situation and making enactment conditions intolerable," helium wrote. 

He alleged that "newly installed leadership" successful the IT and enforcement offices astatine SSA "created a civilization of panic and dread, with minimal accusation sharing, predominant discussions connected worker termination." And Borges claimed that repeated requests for visibility into activities helium recovered questionable were "rebuffed oregon ignored by bureau leadership."

Andrea Meza, a GAP lawyer representing Borges, said successful a statement that Borges "no longer felt that helium could proceed to enactment for the Social Security Administration successful bully conscience fixed what helium had witnessed." Meza said Borges "will proceed to enactment with the due oversight bodies."

Borges had served arsenic SSA's main information serviceman since January. Before that, helium worked astatine the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and was a White House Presidential Innovation chap during the Biden administration, according to LinkedIn. He had besides served successful information handling roles successful the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division and the Naval Air Systems Command. 

On LinkedIn Friday, he wrote, "It is ne'er incorrect to beryllium morally and ethically close with yourself."

Asked astir Borges, an SSA spokesperson declined to remark connected unit matters.

• Department of Government Efficiency
• Social Security Administration