Press Releases

Washington, D.C. — Today, Rep. James R. Walkinshaw (VA-11) released the following statement after a new whistleblower report alleged that a former DOGE employee walked away with highly sensitive Social Security data belonging to Americans and may still have had remote access to SSA’s internal systems after leaving government service.

“This whistleblower report that former DOGE employees copied highly sensitive Social Security data covering hundreds of millions of Americans onto a personal thumb drive and planned to share it with a private employer is deeply alarming and confirms the serious concerns many of us have raised about the reckless handling of Americans’ personal data.

Social Security data is among the most sensitive information the federal government holds. Copying it onto a personal device and attempting to move it outside the government is not just irresponsible. It likely violates federal law and represents a stunning breach of the safeguards meant to protect Americans’ privacy and financial security.

Instead of covering up for this Administration's abuses, Congress must get to the bottom of it. The American people deserve to know how their data was exposed, who was responsible, and whether additional information has been mishandled.

I will not stop working to expose what happened and protect American taxpayers from this kind of reckless abuse of their personal data.”

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