Federal Court Orders Department of Education and Office of Personnel Management to Stop Sharing Private Data with DOGE Affiliates

GREENBELT, Md.—On Feb. 24, the United States District Court for the District of Maryland issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting the Department of Education and the Office of Personnel Management from disclosing sensitive personal information to employees affiliated with the Department of Government Efficiency. The AFT is the lead plaintiff in the case.

“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 AFT President Randi Weingarten. “We brought this case to uphold people’s privacy, because when people give their financial and other personal information to the federal government—namely to secure financial aid for their kids to go to college, or to get a student loan—they expect that data to be protected and used for the reasons it was intended, not appropriated for other means.”

The court ruled that the claim from the plaintiffs—including military veterans and unions representing millions of veterans, teachers, scientists, engineers and federal employees—would likely be successful. The plaintiffs argue that Education Department and OPM violated the Privacy Act by granting DOGE affiliates unauthorized access to systems containing sensitive personal information including Social Security numbers, bank account information, health records and other private data.

“Today, the court agreed with our claim that DOGE affiliates do not need to access Americans’ highly sensitive and private data to do their jobs. This ruling is an important step in protecting Americans’ right to privacy from people who may not have appropriate authority to access it and who may not be using it properly or with adequate safeguards,” said Kristy Parker, counsel at Protect Democracy, which represents the plaintiffs.

In the 33-page ruling, Judge Deborah L. Boardman wrote that “none of these workplace reform measures” allegedly contemplated by the executive orders covering DOGE “appears to require” OPM and Department of Education employees “to access records with the sensitive personal information of current and formal federal employees” and that the government “never explains why” OPM and Department of Education personnel need this access to implement workplace reform measures.

The court found that the plaintiffs would suffer irreparable harm without injunctive relief, noting that “this continuing, unauthorized disclosure of the plaintiffs’ sensitive personal information to DOGE affiliates is irreparable harm that money damages cannot rectify.”

The temporary restraining order will remain in effect until March 10, 2025. The court’s ruling:

• Prevents the Education Department from disclosing personally identifiable information to any DOGE affiliates.
• Prevents OPM from disclosing personally identifiable information to any OPM employee working principally on the DOGE agenda (with the exception of OPM Chief Information Officer Greg Hogan).
• Denies the plaintiffs’ request for relief against the Treasury Department, noting that a previous injunction in another case already provides the plaintiffs protection against Treasury.

The complete ruling is available here.