Washington, D.C. – February 18, 2025* – The head of the Social Security Administration (SSA) tendered resignation after third-party system DOGE’s unauthorized access to Social Security recipients’ data was noticed, sources confirmed Monday.
John R. Calloway, who has been at the agency’s helm since 2022, resigned late Sunday amid growing tensions surrounding the breach. The breach, first detected by government cybersecurity experts, had raised serious alarm about data security in one of the most sensitive agencies in the country.
The controversy arose from the DOGE outside data analytics tool originally installed to accelerate benefits processing. However, it was discovered during internal investigations that DOGE had been encroaching upon recipient records outside its original scope, exposing sensitive data such as Social Security numbers, addresses, and payment histories.
The SSA insider whistleblower alerted the breach in late January, beginning an immediate investigation by the Office of the Inspector General. The researchers discovered that DOGE’s system was drawing a huge amount of recipient information, even among people who were elsewhere in their interactions with the agency.
While as yet, there is no indication of malicious usage, officials worry the sheer size of unauthorized access may have exposed millions to identity theft or fraud. Calloway in his resignation stated, “It has been one of the great privacies of my life to have had the chance to lead the agency. While I have not been inside the technical management of DOGE, I am accepting full responsibility for ensuring the agency upholds the highest of protections when it comes to data. In all fairness, the American public should have complete trust in our systems and I do not want this to shadow the essential work of Social Security.”*
This breach has come under fire from both Democratic and Republican legislators. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) boned it *a massive failure of oversight,* while Representative Mark Hamilton insisted there should be *a complete accounting of how this happened.”*
The SSA put a temporary stop on DOGE’s access and is working with federal cybersecurity experts to understand the exposure. Meanwhile, President Biden is set to nominate someone to serve as acting head of the agency until a permanent one is vetted.
This is among the most disruptive recent breaches at a federal agency, prompting fresh concerns for the diligence of securing personally identifiable information. The government urged Social Security recipients to check their accounts for any unusual activity and to report any anomalies to the Federal Trade Commission.
