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) information on a thumb drive and needed to share the knowledge together with his new employer, a number of sources inform WIRED.
Since October, in accordance with 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 acquired hundreds of thousands 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 means 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 considered one of 12 DOGE team members at SSA, the place, in accordance with the résumé on his private web site, he supported “different DOGE engineers on initiatives together with digital SSN, Loss of life Grasp File cleanup,” and “SSN verification API (EDEN 2.0).” The “dying grasp file” is an SSA database containing hundreds of thousands 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 information and data from one another. On this case, it might permit Social Safety information to be accessed by businesses and establishments outdoors of SSA.
The allegation was revealed in a grievance filed to SSA’s inside watchdog first reported earlier this week by The Washington Post, which didn’t title Solly or Leidos. In accordance with the Submit, the grievance was filed with the SSA’s Workplace of the Inspector Common earlier this 12 months 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 “dying 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, in accordance with the Submit, a whistleblower alleges that the previous DOGE worker sought assist transferring a set of knowledge 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 acknowledged.
Solly “didn’t share, entry, or view any personally identifiable data (PII) maintained by SSA, together with SSA’s Loss of life 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 applicable steps to clear his good title and stellar popularity,” 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 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 doubtlessly 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 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.
