The Trump administration had denied a federal judge’s request that the acting Social Security Administration (SSA) commissioner appear for a hearing on whether to issue a preliminary injunction prohibiting the agency from granting the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) access to millions of Americans’ personally identifiable information.
The decision to bar acting SSA Commissioner Leland Dudek from testifying comes after the administration added over 6,000 living migrants to the SSA’s “death master file” — effectively canceling their social security numbers — in an attempt to force them to self-deport.
The death master file is used to keep track of people who have died and are no longer eligible for benefits. According to The New York Times, the migrants recently added to the list were legally present in the United States but had their status revoked by the administration. The list’s repurposing would result in the “financial lives” of those on it being “terminated,” according to an email from Dudek to staff.
On Monday, attorneys for the Justice Department informed U.S. District Judge Ellen Hollander of Maryland that instead of allowing Dudek to testify, they will “rest their opposition to Plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction on the information contained in briefing, stated at oral argument, and in the administrative record produced by the Social Security Administration.”
Earlier that day, Hollander cited the Times report in a letter to counsel explaining why she wanted Dudek to testify (citations removed):
Acting SSA Commissioner Dudek stated during a telephone hearing on March 27, 2025, that the SSA DOGE Team is working on a project involving the “master death record.” But, the Administrative Record does not “correspond to what was described in the news.” Because testimony from Mr. Dudek “may be helpful as to the various SSA projects that Mr. Dudek has referenced …,” the Court has asked the government to produce Mr. Dudek at the P.I. hearing, “in order to clarify information that has been provided.”
The lawsuit, one of many against DOGE since Trump established the organization, was filed in February by a coalition of national labor organizations and a grassroots advocacy group.
The complaint claimed that the Trump administration and DOGE employees, in particular, were given unrestricted access to Social Security computer systems, in violation of privacy laws.
Hollander previously chastised the federal government and DOGE for claiming that access to Americans’ confidential personal information in the SSA database was required, claiming that the Elon Musk-led organization was essentially on a “fishing expedition” to validate the Trump administration’s baseless claims of widespread fraud.
On Monday, Tiffany Flick, Dudek’s former acting chief of staff, submitted a four-page declaration explaining how the death master file works and what happens when a living person’s name is added to it.
According to Flick, who worked at the agency for nearly 30 years before retiring in January, claims of widespread fraud in the social security system are unfounded, as only about one-third of one percent of the approximately 2.9 million deaths recorded each year require correction.
Flick also claimed that the administration’s decision to repurpose the death master file in an attempt to fulfill Trump’s promise to crack down on immigrants was unprecedented.
“Intentionally marking people who are still living as dead in the Numident and/or Death Master File is unheard of and improper,” Flick explained in her statement. “For people erroneously recorded as dead, the consequences are severe.”
Flick insisted that any living person who is added to the death master file will have their loans, bank accounts, medical coverage, and life insurance canceled, among other things.
It would also prevent them from getting a job, receiving other federal benefits, or filing taxes. Some may even face arrest for identity theft, according to her sworn statement.
“Applications and renewals for CHIP, Basic Health Program, Affordable Care Act, and Multi-State Plan insurance coverage will likely be rejected,” Flick informed us.
“SNAP applications and recertification will likely be discontinued, as state SNAP agencies use data from the DMF — accessed through SSA data exchanges — to process those applications.”
Democratic Representatives Richard Neal of Massachusetts and John Larson of Connecticut issued a joint statement last week condemning the measure, claiming that those placed on the death master file “aren’t being afforded due process.”
“If they cancel the Social Security number of one person, where do they stop?” according to the claim. “The Trump administration’s weaponization of Social Security is shocking and unconscionable, and we expect House Republicans to stay silent.
If you care about Social Security, you must speak out because, no matter what he says, Donald Trump and Elon Musk pose the greatest threat to people and their earned benefits.”