Comment on FR Doc # 2026-12514

July 31, 2026 Mr. John Talieri Senior Official for Privacy Administration for Children and Families 330 C Street SW, Washington, DC 20201 RE: Common Cause’s Opposition to the Privacy Act System of Records Notice (System Number: 09-80-0375), 91 Fed. Reg. 37406 (June 23, 2026) Dear Mr. Talieri: For more than 55 years, Common Cause has worked diligently to ensure that our government adheres to the rule of law and is responsive to the needs of even our most vulnerable populations. Accordingly, we respectfully submit these comments to voice our strong opposition to the proposed modification to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (“TANF”) data, System Number 09-80-0375, as published in the Federal Register by the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Administration for Children and Families (“ACF”) on June 23, 2026 (the “TANF Notice” or the “SORN”). With its dramatic expansion of the TANF program’s data system’s stated purpose and the inclusion of a new supposedly “routine” use for its data, the TANF Notice seeks to remake a program that was intended to provide the ultimate safety net for poor families into a tool for invading the privacy of millions of past and present TANF applicants and their family members for reasons that have nothing to do with ensuring that parents can feed their children and protect them from the cold. A proposal that intentionally weaponizes food for children, infants, and pregnant mothers is dangerous and unnecessarily cruel. A proposal that retroactively changes the disclosure rules governing the sensitive personal information that past TANF recipients provided to the government and makes it impossible for current applicants to understand critical information about what information is being shared, with whom the data is being shared, and for what purpose is unlawful. A proposal that fails to provide transparency, accuracy, and accountability will not protect Americans from governmental overreach. For all the reasons stated in our attached comment and more, Common Cause, backed by its one million plus members living in all fifty states and every congressional district, urges the ACF to withdraw this proposal in its entirety. Respectfully Submitted, John W. Young, III Senior Policy Director, Civil Rights & Civil Liberties Common Cause