Social Security Administration Whistleblower Files Retaliation Complaint with the Office of Special Counsel

Charles Borges, Former SSA Data Chief, Retaliated Against for Raising Alarms that DOGE Compromised the Social Security Data of Hundreds of Millions of Americans

(Washington, D.C.) – Whistleblower and former Chief Data Officer of the Social Security Administration, Charles Borges, today filed a Prohibited Personnel Practices complaint against the agency, alleging that he was retaliated against for blowing the whistle on the potential compromise of Social Security data by members of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). According to the complaint, Mr. Borges had no choice but to resign from his position to avoid being complicit in DOGE’s illegal activity. Mr. Borges’ allegations were recently covered in detail by the Washington Post.

“I took an oath to serve the American public and safeguard the integrity of our sensitive Social Security data,” said Mr. Borges. “I filed this complaint today because the public’s data is at continued risk, and career officials who stand up and speak out in defense of the public interest, and to protect the public’s safety and security should not have to put their jobs at risk.”

Mr. Borges alleges that select DOGE personnel had access to sensitive Social Security data, including names, addresses, and other personal identifying information, despite a lawful Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) restricting their access in the early months of 2025. He further alleges that DOGE representatives used this access to copy sensitive information from the agency’s database, including hundreds of millions of Americans’ personal identifying information, into a cloud-based environment without following mandated data security protocols. Mr. Borges explains in his complaint that these data practices are an “abuse of authority, gross mismanagement, a substantial and specific threat to public health and safety, and a violation of multiple federal statutes.”

When Mr. Borges raised these concerns with SSA officials, he was effectively frozen out of meetings, received no substantive communication from SSA executives, and was told by employees that they were instructed to not respond to any inquiries that were essential to the performance of Mr. Borges’s job and the fulfillment of his statutory duties.

“Mr. Borges’s allegations that the security of Americans’ data was compromised could not be more serious.  When he learned of DOGE’s reckless disregard for the privacy interests of Americans and their flouting of data security practices, he reported it immediately to other officials at the SSA. Rather than halting DOGE’s unlawful actions, they remained passive and ultimately retaliated against conscientious employees, like Mr. Borges, who refused to be complicit, leaving Mr. Borges no choice but to resign,” said Debra S. Katz, counsel for Mr. Borges.

After leaving SSA, Mr. Borges filed a disclosure action with the Office of Special Counsel to alert Americans to the grave risks they faced because of DOGE’s actions. According to Ms. Katz, “Mr. Borges is a patriot and deserves justice for the retaliation he faced for doing the right thing. In filing this complaint with OSC, he seeks vindication of his legal rights even though the OSC has been eviscerated by the Trump Administration. He shines a spotlight on this dysfunction and on the OSC’s inability to protect federal whistleblowers.”

Former Acting Commissioner Leland Dudek confirmed the reasonableness of Mr. Borges’s concerns, having observed inappropriate activities by DOGE agents.  Speaking to the Washington Post, Mr. Dudek described the concerns contained in Mr. Borges’s disclosure action before the OSC as “accurate” and “appropriate.”

Mr. Borges is represented by Debra S. Katz, Pamela Stone, and Bonnie L. Henry at Katz Banks Kumin LLP.

MEDIA AVAILABILITY: Mr. Borges and Ms. Katz are available for interviews with media outlets. Please call Alex Bradley at 202-552-5361 or email him at bradley@katzbanks.com.

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The attorneys of Katz Banks Kumin are nationally recognized leaders in whistleblower law.  The firm handles cases nationwide with offices in Washington, D.C., New York, Philadelphia, and San Francisco. https://katzbanks.com