Judge blocks DOGE from accessing Education Department records
A federal judge appointed by former President Joe Biden is temporarily blocking Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from accessing personal records at the Department of Education (DoEd) as part of their cost-cutting sweep.
Judge Deborah Boardman of Greenbelt, Maryland, issued a temporary restraining order on Monday against DOGE's access to records at the DoEd containing personal sensitive information on Americans, including financial data related to federal student loans.
The order established a two-week restraining order against the DoEd and the Office of Personnel Management from sharing information with the newly formed cost-cutting department.
"This continuing, unauthorized disclosure of the plaintiffs’ sensitive personal information to DOGE affiliates is irreparable harm that money damages cannot rectify," Boardman wrote in the decision.
The order stems from a lawsuit filed against the administration alleging that "the agencies unlawfully granted access to records that contain their personally identifiable information ("PII") to personnel implementing the President’s Executive Orders on the DOGE agenda."
"The plaintiffs have made a clear showing that they are likely to suffer irreparable harm without injunctive relief," the decision reads. "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."
"Upon consideration of the amended complaint, the TRO briefing, the limited record evidence, oral argument, and the recent decisions of other courts in similar cases, the Court finds that the plaintiffs have met their burden for the extraordinary relief they seek," the ruling reads. "The TRO is granted in part and denied in part."
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The latest ruling against DOGE comes from the same judge who in early February blocked President Donald Trump's executive order ending birthright citizenship.
Boardman argued in the earlier ruling that citizenship is a "national concern that demands a uniform policy."
DOGE has seen several legal victories in the face of attempts to block efforts to cut "wasteful" federal spending.
U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan recently denied a request to issue a temporary restraining order preventing Musk and DOGE from accessing data systems at several federal agencies.
The department was issued another win after District Judge Christopher Cooper, an Obama appointee, shot down a request from several federal labor unions to pause the mass firings of federal workers by the Trump administration.
