Washington DC - Disability rights groups sued the Trump administration and Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) head Elon Musk over cuts to the US Social Security Agency (SSA) that they claim were illegal.

Five groups and seven social security beneficiaries filed the lawsuit on Wednesday in Washington DC, claiming that cuts to the SSA have disproportionately hurt those with disabilities.

As a result, they claim that the cuts "are an unprecedented and unconstitutional assault on Social Security benefits, concealed beneath the hollow pretense of bureaucratic 'reform.'"

The plaintiffs "bring this action to challenge the reckless and devastating actions of the defendants, which have severely undermined the agency's public-facing services, causing significant and irreparable harm to the very individuals the SSA is obligated to serve," the lawsuit reads.

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Since President Donald Trump was inaugurated on January 20, Elon Musk's DOGE has purged the civil service, leaving tens of thousands of federal employees without work.

These purges have included about 7,000 SSA employees and enormous cuts to program funding and various services necessary to smoothly run the agency.

DOGE faced resistance as it tried to crack down on the SSA, though, when a judge put a temporary block on Musk's ability to access the agency's personal data. The move was backed up by another federal judge days later.

Musk has, however, stripped back a number of services that are critical for elderly or disabled people, such as a phone service that allows claimants to change personal data without needing to go into a government office.

The suit alleges that DOGE's actions are "arbitrary and capricious" and equate to discrimination against specifically disabled people. DOGE claims that cuts are necessary to achieve greater efficiency and cut government waste.

"The elimination of civil rights enforcement and customer service offices, the closure of offices, and the mass reduction of SSA's workforce do not promote efficiency – they sabotage the agency's fundamental mission," the suit said.