Federal judge on Monday Blocked indefinitely The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is access to most of the sensitive personal data from three federal agencies, and is the latest obstacle to efforts to slim down federal bureaucracy.
The board of directors of US District Judge Deborah has banned the Department of Education (DOE), the Department of Treasury and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).
She said the Privacy Act of 1974 was enacted to prevent unauthorized disclosure of personal information collected by the government, and cited Congress' concerns that a single bureaucrat or agency could immediately gather “any details of our personal lives.”
“These concerns are just as prominent today,” said the judge. I wrote it on page 68. “No matter how important or urgent the President's Doge agenda is, federal agencies must follow the law to do it. In this case, that probably wouldn't have happened.”
Six Americans sued the Treasury, Doe and OPM over Doge's access to personally identifiable information they gave to the government by gathering veteran benefits, applying for student loans, and working as federal employees. Five union organizations, also stored within the system where members' personal data were accessed, also participated in the lawsuit.
Overall, there are around 2 million plaintiffs.
They argue that Doge's actions violate privacy laws passed in response to the Watergate scandal and provide protection against privacy violations. In a court application, they accused the agency of “waived the duties of parent and gatekeeper” of sensitive information from millions of Americans.
The plaintiffs initially sought a universal injunction against the institution that blocked Doge's access to the institution, but the judge's relief was more coordinated and focused solely on the challengers.
Boardman previously entered a temporary restraining order to prevent DOGE from accessing data from DOE and OPM, but at the time he declined to extend the block to financial data. She cited a provisional injunction from another federal judge implementing the same relief plaintiff sought against the agency.
The lawsuit is one of more than dozens of pending cases challenging the structure of Doge and accessing systems for various federal agencies. While billionaire technological mogul Elon Musk is said to be leading large-scale cost-cutting efforts, the White House claims that Musk is not technically part of the Doge and will instead serve as senior adviser to the president.
