This DOGE whistleblower works in the office

Chuck Borges has had a great year.

In January, Borges started a new job Social Security Administration Chief Data Officer, oversees some of the federal government’s most sensitive data systems — including databases containing the Social Security numbers, addresses, citizenship status and benefits records of nearly every American.

Or at least that was the job description. Instead, he spent seven months struggling to get a basic view of the systems for which he was legally responsible, sometimes learning about how Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) worked at the agency in press reports rather than internal discussions. By this summer, it is Filed a whistleblower complaint Alleging that DOGE copied and transferred sensitive US data to an unsecured cloud environment. Borges was fast He had to resign.

Now, Borges is launching his campaign for Senate in Maryland.

In his first interview since the campaign began Tuesday, Borges describes his clashes with DOGE, his marginalization at his own agency, and why he believes technology experts are needed to help guide this new era of government.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Wired: Why did you decide to run for president? How did working under DOGE influence your decision to run?

Chuck Borges: I left SSA in late August, and the next month was very difficult, both personally and professionally. There was a lot of interaction in Congress. There was some media outreach. We had a lot of documentation to work on. I started voicing to various local groups the need to care about data privacy. This is not a partisan issue. It is a nonpartisan issue that your data privacy is a concern and that there are risks.

In early October, the local Democratic Party reached out to me and asked if I would be interested in running for office. The reason I’m running is very simple, I’ve worked at the highest levels of the federal government and through that process I’ve seen a lot of interactions with Congress. There are a lot of concerns in the country today about government dysfunction and many things that are not working.

DOGE did not influence my decision, but the dysfunction I encountered this year overall continued to motivate me to find ways to serve the public better.

When you first heard about DOGE’s involvement in the SSA, what did you expect to happen?