John Solly, a software program engineer and former member of the so-called Division of Authorities Effectivity (DOGE), is the DOGE operative reportedly accused in a whistleblower criticism of telling colleagues that he saved delicate Social Safety Administration (SSA) knowledge on a thumb drive and wished to share the knowledge along with his new employer, a number of sources inform WIRED.
Since October, in line with a replica of his résumé, Solly has labored because the chief know-how officer for the well being IT division of a authorities contractor known as Leidos, which has already obtained thousands and thousands in SSA contracts and will obtain as much as $1.5 billion in contracts with SSA primarily based on a five-year deal it signed in 2023. Solly’s private web site and LinkedIn have been taken offline as of this week.
Responding to a request for remark, Solly, by way of his authorized counsel, denied participating in any wrongdoing. A spokesperson for Leidos additionally stated the corporate discovered no proof supporting the whistleblower’s claims in opposition to Solly.
Solly was certainly one of 12 DOGE workforce members at SSA, the place, in line with the résumé on his private web site, he supported “different DOGE engineers on initiatives together with Digital SSN, Demise Grasp File cleanup,” and “SSN verification API (EDEN 2.0).” The “demise grasp file” is an SSA database containing thousands and thousands of Social Safety data of deceased individuals and is maintained in order that their identities can’t be used for fraud. An API, or software programming interface, permits totally different packages to speak to one another, together with pulling knowledge and data from one another. On this case, it may permit Social Safety knowledge to be accessed by businesses and establishments outdoors of SSA.
The allegation was revealed in a criticism filed to SSA’s inside watchdog first reported earlier this week by The Washington Publish, which didn’t identify Solly or Leidos. In response to the Publish, the criticism was filed with the SSA’s Workplace of the Inspector Common earlier this yr and alleges that the previous DOGE worker informed coworkers he took copies of the SSA’s Numerical Identification System, or NUMIDENT, in addition to the “demise grasp file.” NUMIDENT is a grasp SSA database containing all data included in a Social Safety quantity software, together with full names, start dates, race, and extra personally identifiable data.
Within the criticism, in line with the Publish, a whistleblower alleges that the previous DOGE worker sought assist transferring a set of information from a thumb drive to a private laptop so he may “sanitize” it earlier than importing it to be used at a private-sector firm. The previous DOGE worker allegedly stated that he anticipated to obtain a presidential pardon if his actions have been illegal, the criticism reportedly acknowledged.
Solly “didn’t share, entry, or view any personally identifiable data (PII) maintained by SSA, together with SSA’s Demise Grasp File (DMF) and Numerical Identification System (Numident). The allegations made by a supposedly nameless supply are obviously false and slanderous. Mr. Solly will take all acceptable steps to clear his good identify and stellar status,” says Seth Waxman, who’s representing Solly. “He’s sure that any truthful assessment of the info and circumstances surrounding these spurious allegations will totally exonerate him.”
Leidos is a serious contractor for SSA. Between 2010 and 2018, the corporate introduced in thousands and thousands of {dollars} in SSA IT contracts. In 2018, Leidos was awarded contracts probably price as much as $639 million for IT assist companies and processing incapacity claims. In 2023, the corporate introduced that it had been awarded an estimated $1.5 billion IT contract with the company. As a part of DOGE’s blitz into the US authorities in early 2025, Leidos, like many authorities contractors, noticed a few of its contracts reduce.
