The Social Security inspector general’s office is investigating a whistleblower complaint alleging that a former employee of President Donald Trump’s effectively defunct “Department of Government Efficiency” exploited Americans’ private information.

In a document HuffPost obtained Tuesday, the Social Security Administration’s internal watchdog informed the chairs and ranking members of four congressional committees last week that it was launching an investigation after receiving an anonymous complaint about “the potential misuse of SSA data by a former DOGE employee.”

The Washington Post reported more details not divulged by the SSA OIG, saying Tuesday it had reviewed the claim and spoken with the whistleblower. According to the complaint, a former DOGE software engineer claimed he had access to two highly sensitive SSA databases and planned to share Americans’ personal information with his new private sector employer. The databases include private information ― Social Security numbers, birthplaces, birthdates, citizenship status, parents’ names, races and ethnicities ― for more than 500 million Americans living and dead.

The complaint, the Post reports, claims that the former DOGE worker told the whistleblower he needed help uploading a thumb drive of the data to his personal computer so he could “sanitize” it before giving it to his new workplace. The worker allegedly told another colleague he believed Trump would pardon him if he was caught doing something illegal.

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), one of the lawmakers who received notice of the complaint, said he was very concerned about the details he learned from the Post.

“These allegations describe one of the largest known data breaches in American history, perpetrated by Trump appointees for the explicit purpose of weaponizing Americans’ sensitive personal data for political gain,” he said in a statement. “There must be a full public accounting of this breach at Social Security, including justice for anyone who committed or enabled criminal theft of Americans’ data.”

Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) raised concerns about the former DOGE employee’s ability to access and alter SSA data remotely.

“Not only has an ex-DOGE bro been accused of running around with the social security information of every American on a flash drive, he also may have the ability to edit and manipulate data at the Social Security Administration at will,” he warned, calling it “dangerous and outrageous.”

Security issues related to DOGE, a government cost-cutting initiative led by tech billionaire and former Trump ally Elon Musk, have been ongoing. In January, the Trump administration admitted in court that staffers at DOGE had unauthorized access to sensitive SSA data and may have shared it outside the agency.

This also isn’t the first whistleblower complaint alleging misconduct at DOGE. In August, a complaint from the SSA’s chief data officer, Charles Borges, alleged that DOGE staffers had recklessly made a live copy of the SSA’s most sensitive database and stored it insecurely on a digital cloud server. The investigation into those claims remains ongoing.

Arthur Delaney contributed reporting.

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