Federal Judge Temporarily Blocks DOGE From Accessing Federal Records

A federal judge on June 9 temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from accessing federal government employee records.

U.S. District Judge Denise L. Cote with the Southern District of New York ruled against the Trump administration, finding that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) violated the Privacy Act of 1974 and its established practices under the Administrative Procedures Act.

Cote did not determine the scope of her injunction against DOGE and OPM but said in her order that she will do so this week.

“The plaintiffs have shown that the defendants disclosed OPM records to individuals who had no legal right of access to those records,” Cote wrote in her 99-page ruling. “In doing so, the defendants violated the Privacy Act and departed from cybersecurity standards that they are obligated to follow.

“This was a breach of law and of trust. Tens of millions of Americans depend on the Government to safeguard records that reveal their most private and sensitive affairs.”

The judge was ruling on a February lawsuit brought by several federal unions, including the American Federation of Government Employees, against DOGE, OPM, and former DOGE de facto leader Elon Musk.

Cote said that she was ruling in light of arguments made by the Trump administration that DOGE needs to access OPM systems to update the government’s IT systems.

“The modernization of IT systems has been an uncontroversial goal of the Government for years,” the judge wrote. “The defendants have not shown that a modernization effort will be hampered by compliance with the mandates of the Privacy Act or adherence to OPM’s established cybersecurity protocols.”

Lawyers arguing on behalf of the Trump administration said that the plaintiffs haven’t been able to demonstrate that allowing a limited number of DOGE employees who “are subject to applicable privacy, ethics, and other requirements and have undergone appropriate trainings” will violate Americans’ privacy rights by accessing OPM records.

“Plaintiffs do not explain how, and indeed cannot show, that intra-governmental access by OPM employees … will lead to the disclosure of personal information to extra-governmental actors or allow DOGE to engage in retaliation against them,” the government also argued.

The DOGE task force was established by President Donald Trump in January to look into fraud, waste, and abuse in the government. Officials have said that DOGE needs access to federal systems in order to fulfill its mission.

DOGE has been blocked from accessing records, including Social Security data, in several other cases. But so far, the Supreme Court has not ruled against DOGE in the cases that were brought to the high court.

This past week, the court ruled in favor of the Trump administration and DOGE in two separate cases, allowing the task force to access Social Security records and also blocking an effort to force DOGE to produce records related to its activities.

Lawyers for the Trump administration, in their appeal of the DOGE cases as well as others, have argued that some lower court judges have overstepped their authority by issuing injunctions that impact core functions of the executive branch.

A former special government employee and White House adviser, Musk left the administration in late May and then became critical of the Trump administration over a GOP-backed budget bill.

Amid a public war of words between Trump and Musk in recent days, White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said this past week that DOGE’s work will continue.

Meanwhile, the head of Social Security, Frank Bisignano, recently told the Wall Street Journal that he will continue to work with DOGE to update systems in his agency and revamp customer service.