Charles Borges, the Chief Data Officer at the Social Security Administration (SSA), has resigned following his whistleblower complaint alleging that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) mishandled sensitive personal data of over 300 million Americans.
Newsweek contacted the SSA and the White House via email and Borges via social media for comment on Saturday outside of usual working hours.
Why It Matters
In his resignation letter to SSA Commissioner Frank Bisignano, as reported by the Associated Press and published in full on X, Borges stated that actions taken by the SSA following his whistleblower complaint made his duties “impossible to perform legally and ethically,” leading to “physical, mental, and emotional distress.”
He described a work environment characterized by exclusion, isolation, and a culture of fear.
NEW: Social Security’s chief data officer, Charles Borges, has resigned, three days after submitting a whistle-blower complaint that alleged members of DOGE had uploaded the confidential personal information of hundreds of millions of Americans to an insecure cloud server. pic.twitter.com/NCxl3rJ8N0
— Nicholas Nehamas (@NickNehamas) August 29, 2025
Borges stated in the resignation letter that he was “involuntarily leaving” his role.
He described the new leadership in the technology and executive offices as having fostered “a culture of panic and dread, with minimal information sharing, frequent talk of employee terminations, and widespread organizational dysfunction,” according to the letter, as per The Washington Post.
“After reporting internally to management and externally to regulators, serious data and security and integrity concerns impacting our citizens’ most sensitive personal data,” Borges wrote in the letter, “I have suffered exclusion, isolation, internal strife, and a culture of fear, creating a hostile work environment and making work conditions intolerable,” Borges added, as per ABC News.
According to Wired, less than 30 minutes after Borges resigned, recipients could no longer access the resignation email.
What to Know
As reported by Newsweek, more than 300 million Americans’ Social Security records may have been put at risk after officials at DOGE uploaded sensitive information to a cloud account outside government oversight, according to a whistleblower complaint filed Tuesday with the special counsel’s office.
The disclosure was made by Borges, who has served as chief data officer at the SSA since January.
Borges said the data at risk includes health diagnoses, income, banking records, family relationships, and other personal details.
According to Borges’ LinkedIn profile, he is a father, husband, and combat veteran, having worked for the US Navy and NAVAIR. He has also worked for the CDC and on previous White House projects.
The whistleblower complaint, submitted by Borges to the Office of Special Counsel and congressional committees, alleges that DOGE staff bypassed safeguards and circumvented a court order by uploading a copy of the SSA’s entire database to the cloud without proper oversight.
Borges claims that his requests for visibility into these actions were ignored or rebuffed by agency leadership, as per The Washington Post and CBS News.
A spokesperson for the SSA disputed the claim, stating that the data in question is stored in a secure environment isolated from the internet.
“The data referenced in the complaint is stored in a long-standing environment used by SSA and walled off from the internet,” the spokesperson said, as per CBS.
Borges told colleagues in an email—obtained by NBC News from a recipient—that he had faced retaliation since his whistleblower complaint was made public.
What People Are Saying
In a post to his LinkedIn account on Friday, Borges said: “It is never wrong to be morally and ethically right with yourself. #morals #ethics #helpothers #Constitution.”
Borges’ attorney Andrea Meza said in a statement, as per ABC News: “He no longer felt that he could continue to work for the Social Security Administration in good conscience, given what he had witnessed.”
She added that Borges would continue to work with the proper oversight bodies on the matter.
SSA spokesperson Nick Perrine, in a statement to The New York Times Tuesday: “SSA stores all personal data in secure environments that have robust safeguards in place to protect vital information.
“The data referenced in the complaint is stored in a long-standing environment used by SSA and walled off from the internet. High-level career SSA officials have administrative access to this system with oversight by SSA’s information security team.”
What Happens Next
The complaint was also sent to congressional oversight committees and urges lawmakers to “take appropriate oversight action.”
The situation raises wider questions about data security and oversight within federal agencies, particularly concerning the role of DOGE in accessing sensitive personal information.
The post Who Is Charles Borges? Social Security Whistleblower Resigns appeared first on Newsweek.
