Larson Introduces Resolution with Ways and Means Committee Democrats Demanding Information on the Trump Administration’s Database of Americans’ Private Information
East Hartford, CT - Yesterday, Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee Ranking Member John B. Larson (CT-01) introduced a resolution alongside Democrats on the Ways and Means Committee demanding information on the Trump Administration’s partnership with Palantir to build a vast, centralized database that will compile deeply personal information on the American people.
This database is reportedly set to include confidential taxpayer, identity, wage, child support, bank account, student loan, health and medical, and financial data gathered from the Social Security Administration and the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Treasury, as well as records seized by the ‘Department of Government Efficiency.’
“Addressing data privacy and protections has never been more important, especially after the Supreme Court allowed Elon Musk’s unapproved and unvetted ‘DOGE’ proteges unfettered access to Americans’ Social Security numbers, income history, and medical records,” said Larson. “I introduced a bill alongside Ranking Member Neal and my Ways and Means Democratic colleagues to stop ‘DOGE,’ political appointees, and ‘special government employees’ from accessing your Social Security data. If the Trump Administration and Supreme Court won’t protect Americans’ privacy, it’s time for Congress to act. This resolution demands answers from the Administration on their plans to build a centralized database with everyone’s personal and confidential information. I will continue to call for public hearings to hold these officials accountable under oath and in the light of day.”
“Once again, this Administration is putting power and control above people’s rights,” said Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Richard Neal. “With privacy next to liberty in our Democratic system, a surveillance state is anti-American. The people entrust the government to safeguard their most private data, not weaponize it against them. While House Republicans fail to even lift a finger in protecting the people’s rights, Ways and Means Democrats are demanding answers, and I commend Ranking Member Doggett for his relentless oversight work.”
“DOGE is seeking unprecedented access, not authorized by federal law, to highly sensitive taxpayer data information. It seeks to merge that data into an omnibus information sharing agreement across multiple federal agencies that will create a federal master file on every American,” said Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Ranking Member Lloyd Doggett. “Placing confidential information on earnings, bank accounts, health care into a single universally accessible format makes it much more exposed to unauthorized individuals. It would be a gross violation of our basic privacy rights. Treasury Secretary Bessent’s evasive answers to inquiries about this scheme make our need to act all the more urgent. This Resolution of Inquiry aims to expose the damage done in order to protect against this dangerous overreach.”
This mass aggregation of private information—without transparency, guardrails, or consent—is a grave assault on Americans’ liberty and privacy. Privacy advocates, including Republican Members of Congress, have warned of the danger of such a massive pool of government data being handed over to a corporation for undisclosed current or future use without the people’s knowledge.
Lawmakers are giving the President 14 days to provide all documents and copies, records, audio recordings, memorandum, and more, to the House of Representatives relating to the (1) development of a centralized database by the Federal government and Palantir; (2) the purpose and potential uses of a centralized database; and (3) services provided by Palantir to the Social Security Administration, the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Labor, the Department of the Treasury, or the Department of Health and Human Services.
Read the full Resolution of Inquiry HERE.
Last Friday, the Supreme Court voted to allow Elon Musk’s ‘DOGE’ to access private information at the Social Security Administration, overturning decisions from two lower courts. Rep. Larson’s Protecting Americans’ Social Security Data Act would block political appointees, like Elon Musk and his ‘DOGE,’ from accessing sensitive data systems at the Social Security Administration. It would also establish privacy requirements in law for beneficiary data and strengthen oversight and civil penalties for any privacy and disclosure violations of Social Security beneficiaries’ personal information.