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 data together with his new employer, a number of sources inform WIRED.
Since October, based on a duplicate of his résumé, Solly has labored because the chief expertise officer for the well being IT division of a authorities contractor referred to 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, by way of his authorized counsel, denied participating in any wrongdoing. A spokesperson for Leidos additionally mentioned the corporate discovered no proof supporting the whistleblower’s claims in opposition to Solly.
Solly was one in every of 12 DOGE staff 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 folks and is maintained in order that their identities can’t be used for fraud. An API, or software programming interface, permits completely different applications to speak to one another, together with pulling knowledge and data from one another. On this case, it may enable Social Safety knowledge to be accessed by companies and establishments exterior of SSA.
The allegation was revealed in a criticism filed to SSA’s inner 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 Normal earlier this yr and alleges that the previous DOGE worker advised 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 info included in a Social Safety quantity software, together with full names, beginning dates, race, and extra personally identifiable info.
Within the criticism, based on the Publish, a whistleblower alleges that the previous DOGE worker sought assist transferring a set of knowledge 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 mentioned that he anticipated to obtain a presidential pardon if his actions have been illegal, the criticism reportedly said.
Solly “didn’t share, entry, or view any personally identifiable info (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 fame,” says Seth Waxman, who’s representing Solly. “He’s sure that any truthful evaluate of the info and circumstances surrounding these spurious allegations will totally exonerate him.”
Leidos is a significant contractor for SSA. Between 2010 and 2018, the corporate introduced in tens of millions of {dollars} in SSA IT contracts. In 2018, Leidos was awarded contracts probably price 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 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 minimize.
