In the judiciary's latest salvo against President Donald Trump's administration and its attempt to reduce the sprawl of government, a federal judge on Monday indefinitely denied the Department of Government Efficiency access to the sensitive personal information of millions of Americans at three federal agencies.
The Hill reported that U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman prohibited the Education and Treasury departments, as well as the Office of Personnel Management, from revealing the personally identifiable data for around 2 million plaintiffs who filed a lawsuit challenging DOGE's access.
After six Americans reportedly sued the agencies to prevent DOGE from accessing their information, five union organizations, whose members' personal data is also stored in the agencies' systems, joined the lawsuit. The plaintiffs had provided the government with the personal identifying information when applying for student loans, working as federal employees, and collecting veterans' benefits.
In a 68-page opinion, Boardman pointed to the Privacy Act of 1974, which she said was passed to prevent the federal government from disclosing Americans' sensitive data without authorization. At the time, Congress' concern was that "every detail of our personal lives" could be revealed by a single government official or agency, the judge wrote.
"Those concerns are just as salient today," Boardman said. "No matter how important or urgent the President's DOGE agenda may be, federal agencies must execute it in accordance with the law. That likely did not happen in this case."
The plaintiffs argued that DOGE's actions constitute a violation of the Privacy Act, which was enacted after the Watergate scandal, and they accused the federal agencies of "abandoning their duties as guardians and gatekeepers."
Instead of a universal injunction, which was sought by the plaintiffs and would have blocked DOGE's access to all sensitive personal information at the agencies, the judge delivered a more narrow response, which only addressed the challengers' information.
While Boardman had previously issued a temporary restraining order barring DOGE from accessing data at the Department of Education and Office of Personnel Management, she had reportedly declined to extend the prohibition to the Treasury Department because another federal judge had issued a preliminary injunction to the same effect.
The lawsuit involving 2 million plaintiffs is just one of more than a dozen cases recently filed that challenge DOGE's access to sensitive systems or the advisory board's structure. Its across-the-board cost-cutting effort is reportedly being led by billionaire Elon Musk; the White House has said that Musk serves as a senior adviser to Trump and does not technically head the panel, however.