Judge blocks Department of Education, federal personnel office from sharing data with DOGE

A federal judge in Maryland has blocked the Department of Education and Office of Personnel Management from sharing the personal information of plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the Trump administration with Elon Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency.

U.S. District Judge Deborah L. Boardman issued a temporary restraining order Monday on both agencies and wrote in an opinion that the plaintiffs in the case, which include members of several major unions, showed that the Education Department and OPM "likely violated the Privacy Act by disclosing their personal information to DOGE affiliates without their consent."

Boardman, who was appointed to the bench by former President Joe Biden, wrote that the plaintiffs "met their burden for the extraordinary relief they seek" by clearly showing that they are "likely to suffer irreparable harm without injunctive relief."

"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," she wrote. "There is no reason to believe their access to this information will end anytime soon because the government believes their access is appropriate."

The White House didn’t immediately respond to NBC News' request for comment.

The plaintiffs are unions and membership organizations that represent current and former federal employees as well as federal student loan recipients and six military veterans who have received federal benefits or student loans.

“This is a significant decision that puts a firewall between actors whom we believe lack the legitimacy and authority to access Americans’ personal data and are using it inappropriately, without any safeguards,” said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, the lead plaintiff in the case.

The judge's opinion noted that DOGE employees are embedded both at the Department of Education and OPM and said the DOGE personnel who have been granted unauthorized access to the plaintiffs' records "could use the information available to them to create a comprehensive picture of the plaintiffs’ familial, professional, or financial affairs."

At the Department of Education, for example, DOGE employee Adam Ramada and others have been tasked with auditing the federal student loan programs to find waste, fraud and abuse. The judge, however, said that the government failed to show why these staffers need access to the plaintiffs' records to carry out that assignment.

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"It may be that, with additional time, the government can explain why granting such broad access to the plaintiffs’ personal information is necessary for DOGE affiliates at Education to do their jobs, but for now, the record before the Court indicates they do not have a need for these records in the performance of their duties," the judge said.

The order blocking the Education Department and OPM from sharing the plaintiffs' personal data with DOGE expires on March 10.

As part of the same lawsuit, the plaintiffs also sued the Department of Treasury and its secretary, Scott Bessent, but the judge denied the motion for a temporary restraining order to block DOGE's access to their systems, noting that another judge already imposed a restraining order on the Treasury Department.

Boardman’s wide-ranging order blocking DOGE’s activities came a week after a judge in Washington, D.C., denied a student group’s request for an order halting DOGE staffers from getting access to sensitive data systems at the Department of Education, finding the group didn’t show “it will likely suffer irreparable harm.”

The Trump administration has previously argued that any attempt to limit what kind of information DOGE can access could impede its ability to slash the size of the federal government.

The president scored a win last week when a federal judge in Washington, D.C., denied a request from labor unions for a temporary restraining order barring mass layoffs of probationary workers and other federal employees.