DOGE officials face Hatch Act referrals for work with org aiming to 'overturn election results'

"The Social Security Administration made two Hatch Act violation referrals last month after a Department of Government Efficiency employee signed an agreement to share SSA data with a political advocacy group, according to a new court filing. That advocacy organization isn't named in the document, but its "stated aim was to find evidence of voter fraud and to overturn election results in certain States." Last March, the advocacy group contacted two DOGE associates at SSA "with a request to analyze state voter rolls that the advocacy group had acquired," the court filing says."

"One of the DOGE employees - neither of whom are identified in the court filing, which is dated Jan. 16 - signed a "voter data agreement" with the group on March 24, 2025, potentially to use SSA data to match against voter rolls. It's not clear if that advocacy group ever got the data, the court papers note, saying "SSA has not yet seen evidence that SSA data were shared with the advocacy group.""

"The DOGE employee-signed agreement wasn't approved through the agency's typical data exchange procedures. SSA only learned about it during an unrelated review last fall. It made two referrals to the Office of Special Counsel in December for potential violations of the Hatch Act, which limits certain political activities of federal employees. The revelation is tucked within a Justice Department "correction" to testimony from SSA officials during ongoing legal battles over DOGE access to SSA data. The court filing is signed by longtime DOJ employee Elizabeth Shapiro, deputy director in the agency's Civil Division."

Two referrals were made to the Office of Special Counsel after a Department of Government Efficiency employee signed an agreement to share Social Security Administration data with a political advocacy group. The advocacy group's stated aim was to find evidence of voter fraud and to overturn election results in certain states. In March, the group contacted two DOGE associates at SSA requesting analysis of state voter rolls it had acquired. One DOGE employee signed a "voter data agreement" on March 24, 2025. SSA has not seen evidence that its data were shared. The agreement bypassed standard SSA data-exchange procedures and surfaced during an unrelated review. The DOJ filing noting the referrals was signed by Elizabeth Shapiro.

Read at Nextgov.com