John Solly Is the DOGE Operative Accused of Planning to Take Social Security Data to His New Job

John Solly, a bundle technologist and erstwhile subordinate of the alleged Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), is the DOGE operative reportedly accused successful a whistleblower ailment of telling colleagues that helium stored delicate Social Security Administration (SSA) information connected a thumb thrust and wanted to stock the accusation with his caller employer, aggregate sources archer WIRED.

Since October, according to a transcript of his résumé, Solly has worked arsenic the main exertion serviceman for the wellness IT part of a authorities contractor called Leidos, which has already received millions successful SSA contracts and could person up to $1.5 cardinal successful contracts with SSA based connected a five-year woody it signed successful 2023. Solly’s idiosyncratic website and LinkedIn person been taken offline arsenic of this week.

Responding to a petition for comment, Solly, done his ineligible counsel, denied engaging successful immoderate wrongdoing. A spokesperson for Leidos besides said the institution recovered nary grounds supporting the whistleblower’s claims against Solly.

Solly was 1 of 12 DOGE squad members astatine SSA, where, according to the résumé connected his idiosyncratic website, helium supported “other DOGE engineers connected initiatives including Digital SSN, Death Master File cleanup,” and “SSN verification API (EDEN 2.0).” The “death maestro file” is an SSA database containing millions of Social Security records of deceased radical and is maintained truthful that their identities can’t beryllium utilized for fraud. An API, oregon exertion programming interface, allows antithetic programs to speech to each other, including pulling information and accusation from each other. In this case, it could let Social Security information to beryllium accessed by agencies and institutions extracurricular of SSA.

The allegation was revealed successful a ailment filed to SSA’s interior watchdog archetypal reported earlier this week by The Washington Post, which did not sanction Solly oregon Leidos. According to the Post, the ailment was filed with the SSA’s Office of the Inspector General earlier this twelvemonth and alleges that the erstwhile DOGE worker told coworkers helium took copies of the SSA’s Numerical Identification System, oregon NUMIDENT, arsenic good arsenic the “death maestro file.” NUMIDENT is simply a maestro SSA database containing each accusation included successful a Social Security fig application, including afloat names, commencement dates, race, and much personally identifiable information.

In the complaint, according to the Post, a whistleblower alleges that the erstwhile DOGE worker sought assistance transferring a acceptable of information from a thumb thrust to a idiosyncratic machine truthful helium could “sanitize” it earlier uploading it for usage astatine a private-sector company. The erstwhile DOGE worker allegedly said that helium expected to person a statesmanlike pardon if his actions were unlawful, the ailment reportedly stated.

Solly “did not share, access, oregon presumption immoderate personally identifiable accusation (PII) maintained by SSA, including SSA’s Death Master File (DMF) and Numerical Identification System (Numident). The allegations made by a supposedly anonymous root are patently mendacious and slanderous. Mr. Solly volition instrumentality each due steps to wide his bully sanction and stellar reputation,” says Seth Waxman, who is representing Solly. “He is definite that immoderate just reappraisal of the facts and circumstances surrounding these spurious allegations volition afloat exonerate him.”

Leidos is simply a large contractor for SSA. Between 2010 and 2018, the institution brought successful millions of dollars successful SSA IT contracts. In 2018, Leidos was awarded contracts perchance worthy up to $639 cardinal for IT enactment services and processing disablement claims. In 2023, the institution announced that it had been awarded an estimated $1.5 cardinal IT declaration with the agency. As portion of DOGE’s blitz into the US authorities successful aboriginal 2025, Leidos, similar galore authorities contractors, saw immoderate of its contracts cut.