A federal judge in Maryland issued a temporary injunction Monday blocking the Department of Government Efficiency from accessing student loan systems at the Education Department and a broader set of personnel files at the Office of Personnel Management.
Judge Deborah L. Boardman said federal privacy law restricts what agencies can do with personal identifying information, or PII, that they hold. She said allowing President Trump’s DOGE team to peruse the files tramples on those protections.
The administration had cited the law’s “need-to-know” exception, but Judge Boardman said she didn’t buy the justification.
“It may be that, with additional time, the government can explain why granting such broad access to the plaintiffs’ personal information is necessary for DOGE affiliates at Education to do their jobs, but for now, the record before the Court indicates they do not have a need for these records in the performance of their duties,” she wrote in her ruling.
At OPM, Judge Boardman said the chief information officer, Greg Hogan, does have the right to access the agency’s personnel files. But other DOGE-designated employees do not have that right, she ruled.
The plaintiffs, led by the American Federation of Teachers, had also asked her to block DOGE access to Treasury Department files.
Judge Boardman said that wasn’t necessary because another judge in New York did that on Friday.
The DOGE — which is not an official department but rather an office within the White House — is the tip of the spear of Mr. Trump’s attempt to reshape the federal bureaucracy.
Employees at other departments and agencies to work with the DOGE to carry out Mr. Trump’s government makeover.
Judge Boardman’s ruling stands in contrast with other rulings that backed DOGE access to various systems.
Those include the Labor Department, Health and Human Services and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
U.S. District Judge Rossie D. Alston Jr., in a ruling Friday, refused to block access to OPM and Treasury Department files, saying there was no “concrete evidence” that the DOGE was misusing the data.
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“Plaintiffs’ fears of future harm are much too speculative,” the judge said.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.