Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
Editorials & Other Articles
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
BREAKING: Social Security Administration chief data officer and whistle-blower Charles Borges has resigned.
Mike Masnick
@mmasnick.bsky.social
Pretty sure an "involuntary resignation" means fired.
Marisa Kabas
@marisakabas.bsky.social
· 1h
BREAKING: Social Security Administration chief data officer and whistle-blower Charles Borges has resigned after bombshell report that SSA put highly-sensitive data at risk. He sent out an email to colleagues moments ago.
Here is the text of his email shared with me:
August 29, 2025 at 3:58 PM
@mmasnick.bsky.social
Pretty sure an "involuntary resignation" means fired.
Marisa Kabas
@marisakabas.bsky.social
· 1h
BREAKING: Social Security Administration chief data officer and whistle-blower Charles Borges has resigned after bombshell report that SSA put highly-sensitive data at risk. He sent out an email to colleagues moments ago.
Here is the text of his email shared with me:
August 29, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Marisa Kabas
@marisakabas.bsky.social
Follow
BREAKING: Social Security Administration chief data officer and whistle-blower Charles Borges has resigned after bombshell report that SSA put highly-sensitive data at risk. He sent out an email to colleagues moments ago.
Here is the text of his email shared with me:
August 29, 2025 at 3:26 PM
@marisakabas.bsky.social
Follow
BREAKING: Social Security Administration chief data officer and whistle-blower Charles Borges has resigned after bombshell report that SSA put highly-sensitive data at risk. He sent out an email to colleagues moments ago.
Here is the text of his email shared with me:
August 29, 2025 at 3:26 PM
BREAKING: Social Security Administration chief data officer and whistle-blower Charles Borges has resigned after bombshell report that SSA put highly-sensitive data at risk. He sent out an email to colleagues moments ago.
— Marisa Kabas (@marisakabas.bsky.social) 2025-08-29T19:25:57.766Z
Here is the text of his email shared with me:
Marisa Kabas
@marisakabas.bsky.social
Follow
An SSA source tells me chief data officer Charles Borges sent out his involuntary resignation email to select offices within the agency a short while ago, but then a few minutes later the email disappeared from the inboxes of those who received it with no explanation.
August 29, 2025 at 3:33 PM
@marisakabas.bsky.social
Follow
An SSA source tells me chief data officer Charles Borges sent out his involuntary resignation email to select offices within the agency a short while ago, but then a few minutes later the email disappeared from the inboxes of those who received it with no explanation.
August 29, 2025 at 3:33 PM
An SSA source tells me chief data officer Charles Borges sent out his involuntary resignation email to select offices within the agency a short while ago, but then a few minutes later the email disappeared from the inboxes of those who received it with no explanation.
— Marisa Kabas (@marisakabas.bsky.social) 2025-08-29T19:33:57.607Z
4 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
Social Security whistleblower quits after saying Americans’ data was compromised
The agency’s chief data officer said the U.S. DOGE Service had uploaded personal information for more than 300 million people to the digital cloud.
August 29, 2025 at 9:18 p.m. EDTYesterday at 9:18 p.m. EDT
4 min
The Social Security Administration's main campus, in Woodlawn, Maryland. (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)
By Maegan Vazquez and Meryl Kornfield
A Social Security Administration official responsible for overseeing the agency’s data access resigned from his role on Friday, days after submitting a whistleblower complaint alleging that U.S. DOGE Service staffers uploaded critical personal information for more than 300 million people to the digital cloud.
The SSA’s chief data officer, Charles Borges, wrote in a resignation letter to Commissioner Frank Bisignano that he was “involuntarily leaving” his position. The new leadership in the technology and executive offices “created a culture of panic and dread, with minimal information sharing, frequent discussions on employee termination, and general organizational dysfunction,” he wrote in the letter, obtained by The Washington Post.
In the whistleblower disclosure, which was sent to the Office of Special Counsel as well as several congressional committees, Borges raised concerns that DOGE staffers bypassed safeguards, circumvented a court order, and created a copy of the SSA’s entire collection of data that was put onto the cloud, or a network of remote servers on the internet. Borges said the agency had no oversight of who had access to the file.
Borges also said that his requests for visibility into the potential federal violations of the agency’s data handling “have been rebuffed or ignored by agency leadership, with some employees directed not to reply to my queries.” … Borges’ attorney, Andrea Meza, said in a statement that her client “no longer felt that he could continue to work for the Social Security Administration in good conscience given what he had witnessed. He will continue to work with the proper oversight bodies and will refrain from making any further comments at this time.”
{snip}
By Maegan Vazquez
Maegan Vazquez is a politics breaking news reporter. She joined The Washington Post in 2023.follow on X@maeganvaz
By Meryl Kornfield
Meryl Kornfield is a staff writer on the Politics desk of The Washington Post.follow on Xmerylkornfield
The agency’s chief data officer said the U.S. DOGE Service had uploaded personal information for more than 300 million people to the digital cloud.
August 29, 2025 at 9:18 p.m. EDTYesterday at 9:18 p.m. EDT
4 min
The Social Security Administration's main campus, in Woodlawn, Maryland. (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)
By Maegan Vazquez and Meryl Kornfield
A Social Security Administration official responsible for overseeing the agency’s data access resigned from his role on Friday, days after submitting a whistleblower complaint alleging that U.S. DOGE Service staffers uploaded critical personal information for more than 300 million people to the digital cloud.
The SSA’s chief data officer, Charles Borges, wrote in a resignation letter to Commissioner Frank Bisignano that he was “involuntarily leaving” his position. The new leadership in the technology and executive offices “created a culture of panic and dread, with minimal information sharing, frequent discussions on employee termination, and general organizational dysfunction,” he wrote in the letter, obtained by The Washington Post.
In the whistleblower disclosure, which was sent to the Office of Special Counsel as well as several congressional committees, Borges raised concerns that DOGE staffers bypassed safeguards, circumvented a court order, and created a copy of the SSA’s entire collection of data that was put onto the cloud, or a network of remote servers on the internet. Borges said the agency had no oversight of who had access to the file.
Borges also said that his requests for visibility into the potential federal violations of the agency’s data handling “have been rebuffed or ignored by agency leadership, with some employees directed not to reply to my queries.” … Borges’ attorney, Andrea Meza, said in a statement that her client “no longer felt that he could continue to work for the Social Security Administration in good conscience given what he had witnessed. He will continue to work with the proper oversight bodies and will refrain from making any further comments at this time.”
{snip}
By Maegan Vazquez
Maegan Vazquez is a politics breaking news reporter. She joined The Washington Post in 2023.follow on X@maeganvaz
By Meryl Kornfield
Meryl Kornfield is a staff writer on the Politics desk of The Washington Post.follow on Xmerylkornfield
Kick in to the DU tip jar?
This week we're running a special pop-up mini fund drive. From Monday through Friday we're going ad-free for all registered members, and we're asking you to kick in to the DU tip jar to support the site and keep us financially healthy.
As a bonus, making a contribution will allow you to leave kudos for another DU member, and at the end of the week we'll recognize the DUers who you think make this community great.