Federal judge denies effort to block DOGE from accessing DOL data despite ‘concerns’

(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge, in a ruling late Friday evening, has denied an effort to block the Department of Government Efficiency from accessing sensitive data from the Department of Labor.

In his ruling, federal Judge John D. Bates found that the five federal employee unions that alleged Elon Musk’s cost-cutting team sought to illegally access highly sensitive data, including medical records, failed to establish standing.

“Although the Court harbors concerns about defendants’ alleged conduct, it must deny plaintiffs’ motion at this time,” Judge Bates said in his ruling.

During the hearing, the plaintiffs’ attorneys argued that if DOGE accessed DOL data, it would cause irreparable harm to their clients.

However, in his ruling, Bates found that the plaintiffs did not show that “at least one particular member is substantially likely to suffer an injury at the hands of the defendant.”

During Friday’s hearing, attorneys for the five unions argued that access to the data would also violate the Privacy Act.

“We’ve demonstrated that by having access to these systems, the personal information in them is necessarily at harm with the disclosure of sensitive information,” one of the plaintiffs’ attorneys argued. “It’s unlawful.”

The Department of Justice argued that DOGE employees would have access to data needed to assist the Labor Department in improving its information technology and data systems. The DOJ attorney also argued that DOGE employees are authorized under the Privacy Act and that they would not share data with anyone outside the agency, including other DOGE employees.

Bates pushed back on the DOJ attorneys, saying they were asking him to have “a great deal of confidence in people who, according to public reports, are very young, who have never been in the federal government, who have never had any training with respect to the hands of confidential information.”

“[You] are asking me to just put absolute confidence in the fact that nothing will happen,” Bates said.

Attorneys for the unions said they planned to amend their complaint over the weekend to include three other federal agencies: Health and Human Services, the Department of Education and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

“Department of Labor employees have been told to unquestionably give DOGE operatives access to any system or information they request, or else face termination,” the lawsuit said, alleging that DOGE’s pattern of conduct has been “replete with violations of law.”

Musk’s private companies, including SpaceX and Tesla, have been investigated and fined by parts of the Department of Labor, and at least one of his companies is being actively investigated. Musk has denied all wrongdoing.

On Wednesday, in response to a lawsuit by several federal employee unions, lawyers with the Justice Department agreed to a temporary restraining order that would largely prohibit DOGE from accessing Treasury Department data.

As DOGE has, according to the suit, “zeroed in on and sought unprecedented access to sensitive information” from other federal agencies, including the Treasury Department and Department of Education, the lawsuit raised red flags about Musk’s intrusion into the Department of Labor because of the sensitivity of their records related to the administration of the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act.

According to the lawsuit, Labor Department records include injury reports for thousands of employees, medical records, claim forms, and personal information gathered during the administration of FECA claims.

The department also has records of at least 86,000 workers’ compensation claims from 2024 alone that could be breached by DOGE, the suit said.

“The threats to the Department of Labor that give rise to this action and application for emergency relief represent yet another iteration of what is fast becoming a pattern for DOGE: exceeding its narrow mission and exercising authority it does not (and cannot) possess by exerting control over agencies through personal attacks and threats of unlawful reprisals, and harming people and the stability of our nation in the process,” the lawsuit said.

In a court filing Thursday, Justice Department attorneys representing DOGE argued that the federal unions who brought the case failed to show how they would be harmed by the sharing of data between DOGE and the Labor Department, acknowledging that multiple DOGE representatives have already been sent to work for the department.

“Plaintiffs cannot establish standing, much less irreparable harm, to challenge the sharing of unstated categories of information from unidentified records systems to unknown individuals working in the Executive Branch,” their filing said.

The lawsuit further alleged that Musk — described as an “an unappointed, unelected, and temporarily serving official” — has sought to “run roughshod” over the Labor Department at the same time it has active investigations pending into his private companies.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration — which falls under the Labor Department — previously investigated and fined Musk’s SpaceX and Tesla for multiple safety incidents, including one in connection with a SpaceX employee’s death. OSHA also has multiple open investigations into Musk’s Boring Company.

“Mr. Musk would ordinarily be unable to access nonpublic information regarding those investigations,” the lawsuit said. “In light of the blanket instruction to provide DOGE employees with ‘anything they want,’ Mr. Musk or his associates will be able to access that information simply by asking DOL employees for it.”

The plaintiffs are asking the judge to issue a temporary restraining order that would prohibit the Department of Labor from sharing any records with DOGE.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.