A federal judge on Friday denied the Trump administration’s request that she stay her May 19 ruling that returned control of the U.S. Institute of Peace back to its acting president and board.
In a seven-page ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Beryl A. Howell said the government did not meet any of the four requirements for a stay, including a “strong showing” of whether its request could succeed on the merits.
Howell reiterated her finding that the Institute is not part of the executive branch and is therefore beyond President Donald Trump’s authority to fire its board. She added that the firings also did not follow the law for how a board member of the Institute might be removed by the president.
Judge denies stay request, lets ruling stand blocking DOGE efforts to shut down peace institute
A federal judge has denied the Trump administration’s request that she stay her May 19 ruling that returned control of the U.S.
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has been ordered to immediately delete all Social Security data in its possession, along with the software it installed on the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) systems. This directive comes from federal district judge Ellen Hollander, marking a significant moment in the ongoing battle for privacy rights in the United States. The ruling serves as a stern rebuke to DOGE’s methods, which were justified under the guise of fraud prevention.
The decision, as reported by The (Raleigh) News & Observer, follows a lawsuit initiated by unions and retiree organizations. These groups argued that DOGE’s access to sensitive SSA records violated privacy laws and jeopardized the security of highly confidential data. The court’s ruling highlights the tension between government oversight and individual privacy rights.
Judge Hollander’s resolution was unequivocal: “Rooting out potential fraud, waste and mismanagement at SSA is in the public interest. But that doesn’t mean the government can break the law to do it”. She criticized the rationale provided by SSA’s interim commissioner, Leland Dudek, deeming it insufficient to justify such intrusive access.
The court not only denied DOGE’s request for unlimited data access but also mandated corrective actions: “DOGE must delete the Social Security data in its possession as well as the software it installed,” as covered by The (Raleigh) News & Observer. This decision underscores the judiciary’s role in safeguarding privacy against overreach.
DOGE must delete the Social Security data in its possession as well as the software it installed
ABC News obtained audio of Frank Bisignano’s staff meeting with managers.
The newly sworn-in head of the Social Security Administration told agency staff this week that when he was first offered the job in the Trump administration, he wasn’t familiar with the position and had to look it up online.
Frank Bisignano, a former Wall Street executive, said during a town hall with Social Security managers from around the country on Wednesday that he wasn’t seeking a position in the Trump administration when he received a call about leading the SSA.
“So, I get a phone call and it’s about Social Security. And I’m really, I’m really not, I swear I’m not looking for a job,” Bisignano said, according to an audio recording of the meeting obtained by ABC News. “And I’m like, ‘Well, what am I going to do?’ So, I’m Googling Social Security. You know, one of my great skills, I’m one of the great Googlers on the East Coast.”
“I’m like, ‘What the heck’s the commissioner of Social Security?'” said Bisignano, who now oversees one of the largest federal agencies that’s responsible for distributing retirement, disability, and survivor benefits to more than 70 million Americans.
“A former Wall Street executive”, once the head of a major financial services firm, has to use Google to find out what the Commissioner of Social Security does? He seems relatively harmless compared to F’Elon Musk and his band of DOGE stooges, but I’m still not impressed.
I’ll bet I’m a lot better with Google than he is. Am I qualified for the job? 😀
New head of Social Security, hired from Wall Street, tells staff he had to Google the job when he was offered it
Newly sworn-in Social Security chief Frank Bisignano, who previously was a Wall Street executive, told staffers he had to Google the SSA job when it was offered to him.
Trump plans would make it harder to get Medicaid, register to vote and pay your taxes.
But when it comes to average Americans, the president and his allies in Congress are fine with making it harder to file your taxes, receive benefits, access government services or register to vote.
Consider a few recent examples:
• The Trump administration plans to end an IRS pilot program that allowed some taxpayers with simple returns to file their federal taxes online for free.
• In the megabill comprising much of Trump’s first-year agenda, House Republicans are moving ahead with new work requirements to qualify for health insurance through Medicaid.
• The Trump administration developed a plan (since rescinded) to require more Americans applying for Social Security to visit offices in person to prove their identities.
Let’s call this what it is: red tape — needless box-checking, form-filling and drudgery that accomplishes nothing except making it harder for Americans to get what they need.
Opinion | Republican red tape
Trump plans would make it harder to get Medicaid, register to vote and pay your taxes.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., warned HHS’ proposed budget for 2026 would “leave America sicker and weaker.”
In her opening statement, Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, the top Democrat on the subcommittee, noted that under the proposed budget, NIH funds would be cut by nearly $18 billion compared with the previous fiscal year.
“That would have a devastating impact on research into lifesaving cures and treatments,” Baldwin said, warning it would set “back medical innovations by decades.”
Baldwin said that while the hearing was meant to focus on next year’s budget, the proposal provided insight into what Kennedy was doing at the agency now, in fiscal year 2025. Since Donald Trump returned to the White House, HHS has cut more than 20,000 jobs and slashed billions of dollars for scientific research as part of the Department of Government Efficiency’s effort to reduce the federal budget.
Baldwin questioned the secretary over the department’s withholding funds that were already appropriated by Congress, including thousands of dollars in grants for research on rare diseases, Alzheimer’s and cancer. “We’re not abandoning any lifesaving research,” Kennedy answered. “We’ve cut administrators, we’re cutting waste, we’re cutting duplicative programs.”
The senator also pressed Kennedy about the proposed cuts to NIH and asked whether the lack of funding would slow the development of treatments and cures. “We are the sickest country in the world, so that money has not been well-spent,” Kennedy replied.
Keep in mind that this is a Secretary of Health and Human Services who had brain worms, eats bush meat and road kill, and takes his grandchildren swimming in a creek polluted with raw sewage. And he’s lecturing us on health?
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), established by Elon Musk’s team, entered the Social Security Administration (SSA) with a mission to cut costs and eliminate perceived widespread fraud. DOGE believed that much of this fraudulent activity occurred over the phone. Despite not being a Cabinet-level agency, DOGE’s influence led to the implementation of a controversial phone policy aimed at fraud detection.
At DOGE’s request, a security verification process was developed to detect allegedly fraudulent claims made by phone. This involved a three-day hold on all phone claims while personnel verified the caller’s background. The system mirrored internet claim verification, where claims remain in a database for days before processing. Despite internal skepticism about its necessity, the policy was implemented due to fears of job loss if DOGE’s demands were not met.
The three-day security verification was abandoned due to its ineffectiveness in identifying fraud. It only flagged a couple of potential fraud cases out of 110,000 calls reviewed.
SSA’s DOGE phone policy led to delays with minimal fraud caught
SSA’s fraud-prevention phone policy, backed by DOGE and Elon Musk’s team, caused major delays and few results, drawing widespread criticism
The Trump administration has asked the US Supreme Court to halt a judge’s order that would force it to answer questions from a watchdog group and turn over documents about Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency in a fight over public access to the office’s records.DO
The Justice Department is challenging a ruling that requires the US DOGE Service to comply with demands by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, or CREW, for information about its structure and operations. That includes making DOGE administrator Amy Gleason available to testify under oath at a deposition. A three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit on May 14 denied the government’s request to intervene.
DOGE just can’t handle the sunshine & public scrutiny!
DOGE Asks US Supreme Court to Block Access to Its Records
The Trump administration has asked the US Supreme Court to halt a judge’s order that would force it to answer questions from a watchdog group and turn over documents about Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency in a fight over public access to the office’s records.
Some changes implemented by the Department of Government Efficiency at the Social Security Administration are reportedly being rolled back, but the agency is still struggling with fallout from the Elon Musk chainsaw.
The retreat shows the limits of DOGE’s slash-and-burn strategy at an agency that is deeply enmeshed with Americans’ lives.
DOGE efforts face pushback at Social Security
The retreat shows the limits at an agency deeply enmeshed in the lives of Americans.
America’s national debt, which currently stands at more than $36.2 trillion, is increasingly rising on economists’ agendas. Their fear is that as the nation’s debt burden increases, alongside the interest payments to service the debt, the economy will not grow fast enough to sustain the spending.
Such fears were reflected in a Moody’s downgrade of U.S. credit last week from Aaa to Aa1. Moody’s justified: “While we recognize the US’ significant economic and financial strengths, we believe these no longer fully counterbalance the decline in fiscal metrics.”
U.S. economy is experiencing ‘death by a thousand cuts’, says Deutsche Bank
Deutsche Bank’s Jim Reid says Moody’s recent debt downgrade continues a drip of bad fiscal news for the American economic outlook.
In a strongly worded ruling against Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and its takeover of the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP), U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell said that the move “represented a gross usurpation of power.”
According to the Hill, the judge also issued an injunction barring officials from DOGE and other Trump administration representatives from accessing USIP’s facilities or systems, effectively halting their involvement with the institute.
The order nullified the administration’s decision to dismiss the USIP board members and its president, confirming that they continue to hold their official roles. The appointment of individuals by DOGE was also overturned, requiring their removal from the board.
The judge said President Donald Trump and his subordinates used “acts of force” and threatened officers.
“The President’s efforts here to take over an organization outside of those bounds, contrary to statute established by Congress and by acts of force and threat using local and federal law enforcement officers, represented a gross usurpation of power and a way of conducting government affairs that unnecessarily traumatized the committed leadership and employees of USIP, who deserved better,” Howell said in the ruling.
