A judge on Monday temporarily blocked the Department of Government Efficiency from accessing sensitive information housed in the Department of Education and the Office of Personnel Management, dealing a blow to President Donald Trump’s spending advisory unit.
Judge Deborah Boardman said the extraordinary measure to grant a restraining order against DOGE was necessary after a handful of its employees gained access to confidential federal student loan data and government personnel records, such as pay stubs.
“DOGE affiliates have been granted access to systems of record that contain some of the plaintiffs’ most sensitive data — Social Security numbers, dates of birth, home addresses, income and assets, citizenship status, and disability status — and their access to this trove of personal information is ongoing,” Boardman wrote.
Boardman’s ruling came in response to the American Federation of Teachers, other unions, and several military veterans suing the Trump administration.
They alleged that Trump was permitting Elon Musk, whom Trump tasked with leading DOGE, and a “cadre of loyalists imported from [Musk’s] private companies to help themselves to the personal information of millions of Americans,” which they said was a Privacy Act violation.
The restraining order is a temporary measure, and the lawsuit, which was filed in the District of Maryland, will remain open as the unions and veterans seek a permanent resolution.
The lawsuit is one of numerous legal fights centered on DOGE. A judge in New York granted a similar restraining order prohibiting DOGE from accessing highly restricted Treasury Department information, while a judge in Washington, D.C., declined to put immediate limitations on DOGE’s access to several agencies.
JUDGE CHUTKAN DENIES STATES’ REQUEST TO BLOCK MUSK AND DOGE ACCESS
The Trump administration argued that the unions and veterans in the Maryland case were making redundant arguments already made in other lawsuits and improperly relied on “rumors” to allege that DOGE employees were prone to leaking sensitive information.
“They use that inaccurate speculation to demand yet another overlapping temporary restraining order (“TRO”) that would limit the Executive Branch’s ability to manage its own internal affairs, to exercise politically accountable oversight of agency activities, and to implement the Office of the President’s policy priorities,” government attorneys wrote.