New York Times: Trump Taps Palantir to Compile Data on Americans

Posted on May 30, 2025 by M

The Trump administration has expanded Palantir’s work with the government, spreading the company’s technology — which could easily merge data on Americans — throughout agencies.

In March, President Trump signed an executive order calling for the federal government to share data across agencies, raising questions over whether he might compile a master list of personal information on Americans that could give him untold surveillance power.

Mr. Trump has not publicly talked about the effort since. But behind the scenes, officials have quietly put technological building blocks into place to enable his plan. In particular, they have turned to one company: Palantir, the data analysis and technology firm.

The Trump administration has expanded Palantir’s work across the federal government in recent months. The company has received more than $113 million in federal government spending since Mr. Trump took office, according to public records, including additional funds from existing contracts as well as new contracts with the Department of Homeland Security and the Pentagon. (This does not include a $795 million contract that the Department of Defense awarded the company last week, which has not been spent.)

Representatives of Palantir are also speaking to at least two other agencies — the Social Security Administration and the Internal Revenue Service — about buying its technology, according to six government officials and Palantir employees with knowledge of the discussions.

The push has put a key Palantir product called Foundry into at least four federal agencies, including D.H.S. and the Health and Human Services Department. Widely adopting Foundry, which organizes and analyzes data, paves the way for Mr. Trump to easily merge information from different agencies, the government officials said.

Be very afraid! If you value your privacy, an all-knowing, all-seeing government database is the last thing you want.

https://archive.is/4DyVk#selection-659.0-689.326

MiBolsilloColombia: Only 0.3% of SSA frauds were considered incorrect, what about DOGE?

Posted on May 27, 2025 by M

A recent initiative by the Social Security Administration (SSA) to detect fraud, partly driven by the now-defunct Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) led by Elon Musk, has sparked significant controversy.

The Social Security Administration’s (SSA) recent anti-fraud initiative, influenced by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has stirred a storm of debate. The DOGE, once under the leadership of Elon Musk, made audacious claims about rampant fraud within the SSA. However, the SSA’s new detection system revealed a starkly different reality, identifying only a minuscule amount of potential fraud while inadvertently delaying the processing of numerous claims.

The primary justification for the SSA’s anti-fraud policy stemmed from statements by DOGE members. Aram Moghaddassi, a DOGE engineer, claimed on Fox News that 40% of calls to the SSA for direct deposit changes were from scammers. This assertion was echoed by Elon Musk and Vice President JD Vance. Musk even suggested that his engineers had uncovered “$100 billion a week” in fraudulent payments, a figure that raised eyebrows across the board.

But:

Of over 110,000 claims reviewed, less than 1% were flagged for potential fraud, and only two were deemed to have a “high probability” of being fraudulent.

Only 0.3% of SSA frauds were considered incorrect, what about DOGE?

A recent initiative by the Social Security Administration (SSA) to detect fraud, partly driven by the now-defunct Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) led by Elon Musk, has sparked significant controversy.

https://www.mibolsillo.co/news/Only-0.3-of-SSA-frauds-were-considered-incorrect-what-about-DOGE-20250526-0031.html

MSNBC: Leaked audio suggests Trump’s new Social Security chief had to Google his own job

Posted on May 25, 2025 by M

The apparent fact that the new Social Security commissioner, up until recently, had no idea what his job entailed does not inspire confidence.

First Frank Bisignano tries to pass himself off as:

“fundamentally a DOGE person,”

which sets off alarms for those who don’t want Social Security cut, so Bisignano

took steps to distance himself from DOGE-imposed changes at the Social Security Administration

but

Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon produced a statement from a purported whistleblower, who claimed that Bisignano had personally intervened to get key DOGE officials involved at the agency

Now that he is on the job, he admits that

he wasn’t familiar with the position and had to look it up online.

Bisignano said: “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. 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.”

Does he also know how to Google on the West Coast, or is he just a one-coast Googler?

This guy is running Social Security?

Does he remember his name?

Does he know where he is?

Does ….

Leaked audio suggests Trump’s new Social Security chief had to Google his own job

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/leaked-audio-suggests-trumps-new-social-security-chief-google-job-rcna208797

Explícame: DOGE must delete the Social Security data in its possession as well as the software it installed

Posted on May 24, 2025 by M

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

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/doge-must-delete-the-social-security-data-in-its-possession-as-well-as-the-software-it-installed/ar-AA1FmN4Z

ABC News: New Social Security chief tells staff he had to Google the job when he was offered it

Posted on May 24, 2025 by M

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.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/new-head-social-security-hired-wall-street-tells/story?id=122075152

Axios Sneak Peek: DOGE efforts face pushback at Social Security

Posted on May 21, 2025 by M

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.

https://www.axios.com/2025/05/21/social-security-efforts-doge

Musk Watch: Musk promised budget cuts. He delivered a panopticon.

Posted on May 14, 2025 by M

The Department of Government Efficiency, the secretive White House initiative founded by Elon Musk, was sold to the American public under the guise of cost-cutting. In this regard it has failed. After more than 110 days of austerity theater, DOGE has shaved just a few billion dollars from annual federal spending. Musk, who is poised to “significantly” reduce his involvement in the project, had promised $2 trillion.

DOGE has had much more success expanding the executive branch’s domestic surveillance capacity.

Citing whistleblower complaints, Rep. Gerald Connolly divulged last month that DOGE is building a “master database,” a single exhaustive repository containing personal data held by numerous federal agencies, including the IRS, the Social Security Administration, and the Department of Health and Human Services.

“The DOGE team is reportedly engaged in an unprecedented effort to build a massive database using data from SSA and across the federal government,” the Democratic lawmaker wrote in a letter to the SSA Office of the Inspector General.

Efforts to build the database are part of a Trump executive order dictating the elimination of the federal government’s “information silos.” In signing the executive order in March, Trump tied it to DOGE’s nominal mission of “stopping waste, fraud, and abuse.”

But in action, amalgamating federal data is part of the White House’s push to deport and intimidate undocumented immigrants, including by falsifying SSA death records to prevent undocumented immigrants from accessing housing and banking services. DOGE employees are also using data from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to remove undocumented immigrants from housing, even if they are living with family members who are legal residents.

The DOGE master database is being built and housed at the Department of Homeland Security and includes the use of biometric data to track immigrants, according to Wired. “They are already cross-referencing immigration [data] with SSA and IRS as well as voter data,” one DHS official told the outlet. FedScoop reported last week that members of DOGE have been spotted at a DHS border security office that houses fingerprint, facial, and iris records.

China would be so proud!

Musk promised budget cuts. He delivered a panopticon.

The Department of Government Efficiency, the secretive White House initiative founded by Elon Musk, was sold to the American public under the guise of cost-cutting.

https://www.muskwatch.com/p/musk-promised-budget-cuts-he-delivered

Reuters: Judge orders temporary halt to Trump administration’s government overhaul

Posted on May 13, 2025 by M

President Donald Trump’s administration must temporarily halt its sweeping government overhaul because Congress did not authorize it to carry out large-scale staffing cuts and the restructuring of agencies, a federal judge said on Friday.

U.S. District Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco sided with a group of unions, non-profits and local governments, and blocked large-scale mass layoffs known as “reductions in force” for 14 days.

“As history demonstrates, the President may broadly restructure federal agencies only when authorized by Congress,” said Illston.

Judge orders temporary halt to Trump administration’s government overhaul

Dozens of lawsuits have challenged DOGE’s work on various grounds including violating privacy laws and exceeding its authority, with mixed results. This ruling is one of the broadest yet.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/judge-orders-temporary-halt-trump-administrations-mass-layoff-plans-2025-05-10