Payton Rehling
Wrecker
, coder, age 27
Payton Rehling is a senior data engineer at Valor Equity Partners, the private equity firm that is run by Antonio Gracias and Jon Koval. Rehling joined the Social Security Administration DOGE team in February but has since been detailed to DHS and the DOJ, where he has likely been heavily involved in the administration’s efforts to create a surveillance system to supercharge immigration enforcement.
Likely aliases: SSA-09
Positions
| Position | Dates | Notes |
|---|---|---|
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2/23
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[as SSA-09] appointed Expert, Office of the CIO (NTE 2026-02-22, ED-00, volunteer) | |
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likely detailed NYT | |
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internal xfer NYT | |
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internal xfer NYT | |
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4/15
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likely detailed NYT |
Systems
| System | Dates | Notes |
|---|---|---|
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PSSNAP
3/14
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3/14 | Phone Social Security Number Application Process data
SSN application process data (Phone). This is a data extract file rather than an independent system. (SSA) read access granted by Agency Director Leland Dudek court doc |
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MBR
3/17
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3/17 | Master Beneficiary Record
A large record of all individuals elgible to receive social security benefits (SSA) read access granted by CIO Mike Russo court doc |
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NUMIDENT
3/17
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3/17 | Numerical Identification System
NUMIDENT files that have been extracted from SSA systems, these contain SSNs for everybody (SSA) read access granted by CIO Mike Russo court doc |
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SSR
3/17
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3/17 | Supplemental Security Record master records
A master record used by the SSA for the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program (SSA) read access granted by CIO Mike Russo court doc |
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CIS
3/25
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3/25 | Central Index System
The CIS contains information about immigrants who use Alien Numbers, or A-Numbers. (USCIS) unknown access granted by CIO Antoine McCord FedScoop |
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ELIS
3/25
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3/25 | Electronic Immigration System
ELIS acts as a case management system for USCIS and includes information about green cards and petitions, as well as details related to Temporary Protected Status and DACA applicants (USCIS) unknown access granted by CIO Antoine McCord FedScoop |
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DBIS
3/25
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3/25 | USCIS Data Business Intelligence Services
A system for tracking payments and business operations of USCIS (USCIS) unknown access granted by CIO Antoine McCord FedScoop |
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ECAS
4/21
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4/21 | Executive Office for Immigration Review's Court and Appeals System
A system used by DOJ for tracking the status of immigration cases (DOJ) unknown access Wash. Post |
Events
| Agency | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
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2/23
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Onboard:
Social Security Administration onboards 3 more unidentified DOGE staffers – SSA-06 (Jon Koval), SSA-04 (Antonio Gracias), and SSA-09 (Payton Rehling) – as volunteers with the title of Expert.
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3/12
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Directory:
In a sworn declaration, Florence Felix-Lawson notes “the SSA DOGE Team currently consists of ten SSA employees: four SSA special government employees (Employees 1, 4, 6, and 9) and six detailees to SSA from other government agencies and offices (Employees 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, and 10)”
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3/13
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Directory:
Wired reports that 10 DOGE staffers are currently visible in the Microsoft Teams directory of all employees at SSA
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3/19
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Access:
Leland Dudek approves access for “Employee 9” of the DOGE team at SSA to view some additional schemas in the PSSNAP database of Social Security Applications conducted over the phone.
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3/25
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Directory:
Tech staffers and contractors noticed a new DOGE staffer, Sahil Lavingia, was pushing code to a repo in the VA’s Github instance. He also appeared to be using an AI tool to write code. This later turns out to be code that is reviewing contracts to be terminated.
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3/27
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Access:
In a sworn declaration, Leland Dudek justifies access to PII in SSA records for SSA-01 (Akash Bobba), SSA-05 (Cole Killian), SSA-08 (Nikhil Rajpal) and SSA-09 (Payton Rehling) on the DOGE team. This access is granted through the SSA’s Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW) system. He asserts that DOGE staff are being granted only the minimum levels of schema access required.
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3/28
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Access:
USCIS CIO William McElhaney sends a message to DHS Deputy Secretary asking them to review access that was granted to DOGE staffers Kyle Schutt, Edward Coristine, Aram Moghaddassi and Payton Rehling.
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4/11
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6/25
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Oversight:
Democratic Congressman Mark Takano sends an angry letter to Secretary Collins of the VA demanding answers about DOGE activities including if they have installed spyware on agency machines, if they have been piloting AI, and if they have accessed medical records. He also asks for detailed information on DOGE staff at the agency.
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