A federal judge in Maryland issued a temporary restraining order on Monday, officially preventing Elon Musk’s DOGE team from accessing top‑classified records from the Education Department and OPM. The decision came after labor unions challenged the agencies for allegedly breaching the Privacy Act, raising concerns over widespread data security violations nationwide.
On Monday, a federal judge denied access to confidential data held by the U.S. Education Department and the U.S. Office of Personnel Management by the government reduction committee that President Trump appointed and which Elon Musk led.
At the request of a group of labor unions, a temporary restraining order was issued by U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman in Greenbelt, Maryland. The unions claimed that the agencies had improperly given access to records containing the personal information of millions of Americans to Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.
After the plaintiffs proved that the two agencies had given DOGE “sweeping access” to personal information that was sensitive and violated the Privacy Act of 1974, the judge ruled that the agencies had probably broken federal law.
Current and former federal employees and recipients of student aid were required to provide information such as Social Security numbers, dates of birth, home locations, income and assets, citizenship status, and disability status.
The Trump administration contended that if the court were to rule that DOGE could not access the data, it would limit the information that the Republican president’s advisors could access, making it harder for them to implement his program.
Boardman, who was appointed by Trump’s Democratic predecessor Joe Biden, claims that her ruling prohibits DOGE affiliates from accessing the plaintiffs’ private information, even if these individuals do not now have a legitimate need to know this information in order to carry out their jobs.
A request for comment was not promptly addressed by the White House.
DOGE has been implemented across federal agencies since the Republican president took office last month. As part of his massive government overhaul, which has included thousands of job cuts, he appointed the CEO of Tesla (TSLA.O) to the task of eliminating wasteful spending.
Many states in the US that are headed by Democrats and other liberal legal organizations have taken legal action to block DOGE from accessing government networks.
At the request of nineteen Democratic state attorneys general, a federal judge in New York renewed an order on Friday prohibiting DOGE from accessing systems within the Treasury Department that handle payments totaling trillions of dollars.
Luis Gochoco is a seasoned managing editor and writer with over a decade of experience covering politics, technology, gaming, and entertainment news. With a keen eye for breaking stories and in-depth analysis, he has established himself as a trusted voice in digital journalism. Luis is one of the key forces behind the success of GameNGuide, contributing to 12 million views through engaging and high-traffic content. He also played a pivotal role in generating 8 million views on International Business Times, shaping the platform’s technology and gaming coverage.
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