Chief Data Officer of Social Security resigns, citing 'culture of panic and dread'

The Chief Data Officer of Social Security, Charles Borges, submitted a resignation letter Friday, just days after he cited alleged policy violations in a whistleblower report that documented the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) decision to upload sensitive data to a “vulnerable cloud environment,” according to The Hill. 

“Recently, I have been made aware of several projects and incidents which may constitute violations of federal statutes or regulations, involve the potential safety and security of high value data assets in the cloud, possibly provided unauthorized or inappropriate access to agency enterprise data storage solutions, and may involve unauthorized data exchange with other agencies,” Borges wrote in the letter, which was submitted to Social Security Administrator (SSA) Frank Bisignano.

“As these events evolved, newly installed leadership in IT and executive offices created a culture of panic and dread, with minimal information sharing, frequent discussions on employee termination, and general organizational dysfunction,” he added.

He said that people there are afraid to raise concerns, fearing possible termination or other forms of retribution. The SSA did not immediately respond to The Hill with a comment. 

“The escalating and relentless daily stress of lack of visibility and exclusion from decision-making on these activities, silence from leadership, and anxiety and fear over potential illegal actions resulting in the loss of citizen data, is more than a reasonable employee could bear.”

The outlet notes that some of the young DOGE officials hired by Elon Musk were granted viewing privileges for the purpose of combating “waste, fraud and abuse” as seen by the Trump administration.