By Nate Raymond (Reuters) – A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order on Monday, halting a government downsizing initiative led by billionaire Elon Musk and mandated by President Donald Trump. The initiative sought access to sensitive information held by the U.S. Education Department and the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman in Greenbelt, Maryland granted the order in response to a coalition of labor unions’ concerns that the Department of Government Efficiency, overseen by Musk, had been given unauthorized access to personal data of millions of Americans.
The judge found that the granting of “sweeping access” to sensitive personal information by both agencies may have breached federal law, specifically the Privacy Act of 1974. This information, which included Social Security numbers, dates of birth, addresses, financial details, citizenship status, and disability information, pertained to both current and former federal employees as well as student aid beneficiaries.
The Trump administration contended that blocking the Department of Government Efficiency from accessing this data would hinder the president’s agenda by restricting his advisors’ access to crucial information. However, Judge Boardman, appointed by Trump’s Democratic predecessor Joe Biden, ruled that the order was necessary to prevent the disclosure of sensitive personal data to individuals affiliated with DOGE who lacked a legitimate need for such information.
Notably, the White House refrained from immediate comment on the matter. DOGE, spearheaded by Elon Musk following Trump’s return to office, has been instrumental in identifying and eliminating wasteful spending as part of the government’s extensive restructuring efforts, which have entailed significant job reductions.
In light of multiple legal challenges, including lawsuits from Democratic-led states and liberal legal organizations, federal judges have intervened to prevent DOGE from gaining access to various government systems. Just recently, a judge in New York, responding to the request of 19 Democratic state attorneys general, extended a ruling that barred DOGE from accessing critical Treasury Department systems responsible for managing vast sums of government payments.
(Reporting by Nate Raymond in New York; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Nick Zieminski)
