This DOGE Whistleblower Is Running for Office
Chuck Borges has I’ve had a hell of a year.
In January, Borges took a new job as the Social Security Administration’s chief data officer, overseeing 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 gain basic visibility into the systems for which he was statutorily responsible, sometimes learning how Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Effectiveness (DOGE) operated within the agency from news articles rather than internal discussions. This summer, he filed a whistleblower complaint alleging that DOGE had copied and moved sensitive US data to an insecure cloud environment. Borges was quickly forced to resign.
Borges now launches his campaign for Maryland state senator.
In his first interview since the campaign began Tuesday, Borges describes his clashes with DOGE, being sidelined in his own agency, and why he believes technologists are needed to help lead this new era of government.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
WIRED: Why did you decide to run for office? And how did working under DOGE influence your decision to run?
Chuck Borges: I left SSA at the end of August and the next month was very trying, both personally and professionally. There was a lot of interaction in Congress. There was some media awareness. We had a lot of documentation to work with. I started expressing to various local groups that they should be concerned about data privacy. This is not a partisan issue. It’s a non-partisan issue that your data privacy should concern you and that it carries risks.
In early October, the local Democratic Party contacted me and asked if I would be interested in running for office. The reason I am running is quite simple: I have worked at the highest levels of the federal government, and through that process I have witnessed many interactions with Congress. There are many concerns in the country today about government dysfunction and many things just aren’t working.
DOGE did not influence my decision, but the dysfunction I experienced this year in general continued to motivate me to find ways to better serve the public.
When you first heard about DOGE’s involvement in SSA, what did you expect?
