John Solly, a software program engineer and former member of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), is the DOGE operative reportedly accused in a whistleblower grievance of telling colleagues that he saved delicate Social Safety Administration (SSA) knowledge on a thumb drive and wished to share the data along with his new employer, a number of sources inform WIRED.
Since October, based on 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 tens of millions in SSA contracts and will obtain as much as $1.5 billion in contracts with SSA based mostly 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, via 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 considered one of 12 DOGE team members at SSA, the place, based on 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 “loss of life grasp file” is an SSA database containing tens of millions of Social Safety information of deceased individuals and is maintained in order that their identities can’t be used for fraud. An API, or utility programming interface, permits totally different packages to speak to one another, together with pulling knowledge and knowledge from one another. On this case, it might enable Social Safety knowledge to be accessed by businesses and establishments exterior of SSA.
The allegation was revealed in a grievance filed to SSA’s inner watchdog first reported earlier this week by The Washington Post, which didn’t identify Solly or Leidos. In line with the Publish, the grievance was filed with the SSA’s Workplace of the Inspector Basic 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 “loss of life grasp file.” NUMIDENT is a grasp SSA database containing all data included in a Social Safety quantity utility, together with full names, start dates, race, and extra personally identifiable data.
Within the grievance, based on the Publish, a whistleblower alleges that the previous DOGE worker sought assist transferring a set of information from a thumb drive to a private pc so he might “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 grievance reportedly said.
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 evaluation 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 millions of dollars in SSA IT contracts. In 2018, Leidos was awarded contracts probably value as much as $639 million for IT help companies and processing incapacity claims. In 2023, the corporate introduced that it had been awarded an estimated $1.5 billion IT contract with the agency. As a part of DOGE’s blitz into the US authorities in early 2025, Leidos, like many government contractors, saw some of its contracts cut.
