I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1877 
To amend title XI of the Social Security Act to establish that political 
appointees and special governments may not access beneficiary data 
systems, to establish civil penalties for certain violations relating to 
disclosure or access of beneficiary information, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 5, 2025 
Mr. LARSON of Connecticut (for himself, Mr. NEAL, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. 
BISHOP, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. DELUZIO, Mr. NADLER, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. 
DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. JACOBS, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. THOMPSON of Mis-
sissippi, Mr. JACKSON
of Illinois, Ms. TITUS, Mr. COHEN, Mr. 
KRISHNAMOORTHI, Ms. BUDZINSKI, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. HORSFORD, Ms. 
CHU, Ms. SEWELL, Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. SCHNEIDER, Mr. 
IVEY, Mrs. CHERFILUS-MCCORMICK, Mrs. MCIVER, Mrs. HAYES, Ms. 
DELAURO, Mr. TAKANO, Ms. ELFRETH, Ms. ANSARI, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. 
SUOZZI, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. LYNCH, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Ms. 
MCCOLLUM, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. TONKO, Mrs. DINGELL, Mr. 
THOMPSON of California, Mr. STANTON, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Ms. SA´NCHEZ, 
Ms. NORTON, Mr. JOHNSON
of Georgia, Mr. GOTTHEIMER, Mr. 
AUCHINCLOSS, Mr. CARSON, Mr. SORENSEN, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. 
LANDSMAN, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. POCAN, Mr. AMO, Ms. 
KELLY of Illinois, Ms. UNDERWOOD, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. RILEY of New 
York, Ms. BROWNLEY, Mr. MORELLE, Ms. MATSUI, Ms. BROWN, Mr. 
MCGARVEY, Ms. PETTERSEN, Mr. MFUME, Mr. SWALWELL, Ms. 
PLASKETT, Ms. RANDALL, and Ms. DEAN of Pennsylvania) introduced 
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and 
Means 
A BILL 
To amend title XI of the Social Security Act to establish 
that political appointees and special governments may 
not access beneficiary data systems, to establish civil 
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penalties for certain violations relating to disclosure or 
access of beneficiary information, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Americans’ 
Social Security Data Act’’. 
SEC. 2. ACCESS BY POLITICAL APPOINTEES AND SPECIAL 
GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES. 
Section 1106 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
1306) is amended by adding after subsection (g) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(h) ACCESS BY POLITICAL APPOINTEES AND SPE-
CIAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 
subsection of this section, an individual who is a po-
litical appointee (as that term is defined in section 
4(a) of the Edward ‘Ted’ Kaufman and Michael 
Leavitt Presidential Transitions Improvements Act 
of 2015 (5 U.S.C. 3101 note)) or a special govern-
ment employee (as that term is defined in section 
202(a) of title 18, United States Code) may not ac-
cess a beneficiary data system. 
‘‘(2) BENEFICIARY DATA SYSTEM DEFINED.— 
In this section, the term ‘beneficiary data system’ 
means a system that is maintained by the Social Se-
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curity Administration for the purposes of admin-
istering this Act that— 
‘‘(A) issues or records social security ac-
count numbers; 
‘‘(B) is used to determine eligibility for 
benefits under this Act; 
‘‘(C) to pay benefits under this Act; or 
‘‘(D) otherwise contains personally identifi-
able information about individuals receiving or 
applying for a benefit under this Act, includ-
ing— 
‘‘(i) the Master Files of Social Secu-
rity Number Holders and SSN Applica-
tions (Numident); 
‘‘(ii) the Master Beneficiary Record; 
‘‘(iii) the Supplemental Security In-
come Record and Special Veterans Bene-
fits; 
‘‘(iv) the National Disability Deter-
mination Services File; 
‘‘(v) the Earnings Recording and Self- 
Employment Income System; and 
‘‘(vi) any other system accessible 
through the Enterprise Data Warehouse.’’. 
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SEC. 3. CIVIL DAMAGES FOR UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS OR 
DISCLOSURE OF CERTAIN INFORMATION. 
Section 1106 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
1301) is further amended by adding after subsection (h), 
as added by section 2, the following: 
‘‘(i) CIVIL PENALTIES.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 
‘‘(A) DISCLOSURE
OR
ACCESS
BY
EM-
PLOYEE OF UNITED STATES.—If any officer or 
employee of the United States negligently dis-
closes or accesses any information that pertains 
to an individual in violation of any provision of 
subsection (a) or (h), such individual may bring 
a civil action for damages against the United 
States in a district court of the United States. 
‘‘(B) DISCLOSURE OR ACCESS BY A PER-
SON WHO IS NOT AN EMPLOYEE OF UNITED 
STATES.—If any person who is not an officer or 
employee of the United States negligently dis-
closes or accesses any information that pertains 
to an individual in violation of any provision of 
subsection (a) or (h), such individual may bring 
a civil action for damages against such person 
in a district court of the United States. 
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‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.—No liability shall arise 
under this section with respect to any disclosure or 
access— 
‘‘(A) which results from a good faith, but 
erroneous, interpretation of subsection (a) or 
(h); or 
‘‘(B) which is requested by the individual. 
‘‘(3) DAMAGES.—In any action brought under 
paragraph (1), upon a finding of liability on the part 
of the defendant, the defendant shall be liable to the 
plaintiff in an amount equal to the sum of— 
‘‘(A) the greater of— 
‘‘(i) $5,000 for each act of unauthor-
ized access or disclosure with respect to 
which such defendant is found liable; or 
‘‘(ii) the sum of— 
‘‘(I) the actual damages sus-
tained by the plaintiff as a result of 
such unauthorized access or disclo-
sure, plus 
‘‘(II) in the case of a willful ac-
cess or disclosure or an access or dis-
closure which is the result of gross 
negligence, punitive damages, plus 
‘‘(B) the costs of the action, plus 
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‘‘(C) reasonable attorneys fees, except that 
if the defendant is the United States, reason-
able attorneys fees may be awarded only if the 
plaintiff is the prevailing party. 
‘‘(4) PERIOD FOR BRINGING ACTION.—Notwith-
standing any other provision of law, an action to en-
force any liability created under this section may be 
brought, without regard to the amount in con-
troversy, at any time within 2 years after the date 
of discovery by the plaintiff of the unauthorized dis-
closure or access. 
‘‘(5) NOTIFICATION OF UNLAWFUL DISCLOSURE 
OR ACCESS.—If any person is criminally charged by 
indictment or information with disclosing or access-
ing any information that pertains to an individual in 
violation of subsection (a) or (h), the Commissioner 
of Social Security shall notify such individual as 
soon as practicable of such disclosure or access. The 
Commissioner shall also notify such individual if a 
Federal or State agency (upon notice to the Com-
missioner by such Federal or State agency) proposes 
an administrative determination as to disciplinary or 
adverse action against an employee arising from the 
employee’s unauthorized disclosure or access of the 
individual’s information. The notice described in this 
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subsection shall include the date of the unauthorized 
disclosure or access and the rights of the individual 
under such administrative determination.’’. 
SEC. 4. INVESTIGATIONS. 
Section 1106 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
1301) is further amended by adding after subsection (i), 
as added by section 3, the following: 
‘‘(j) INVESTIGATION AND REPORT.— 
‘‘(1) INVESTIGATION.—The Inspector General 
of the Social Security Administration shall inves-
tigate each disclosure in violation of subsection (a) 
and each access of a beneficiary data system in vio-
lation of subsection (h). 
‘‘(2) TREATMENT
OF
DISCLOSURE
OR
AC-
CESS.—For the purposes of this subsection, the In-
spector General may, if the Inspector General deter-
mines appropriate, treat a series of violations of sub-
section (a) or (h) as a single violation. 
‘‘(3) REPORT.—Not later than 30 days after 
the Inspector General becomes aware of a violation 
of subsection (a) or (h), the Inspector General shall 
submit to Congress a report on such violation, which 
shall include— 
‘‘(A) a detailed description of the violation; 
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‘‘(B) a risk assessment of any threat to the 
privacy of any individual whose information was 
disclosed or accessed, national security, cyberse-
curity, or the integrity of the applicable bene-
ficiary data system as a result of the violation; 
and 
‘‘(C) a detailed description of any stopped 
payment during the unauthorized use or ac-
cess.’’. 
SEC. 5. PRIVACY REGULATIONS. 
Notwithstanding this Act and the amendments made 
by this Act, part 401 of title 20 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations, as in effect on January 19, 2025, shall have 
the force and effect of law. 
SEC. 6. GAO STUDY AND INTERIM REPORTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller of the 
United States shall submit to the Committee on Finance 
of the Senate and the Committee on Ways and Means of 
the House of Representatives a report including the fol-
lowing information: 
(1) The results of a study on the effects of the 
changes made to section 1106 of the Social Security 
Act by this Act, and by any subsequent Acts. 
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