Federal judge delays unions' request to block DOGE access to agency information
A federal judge on Friday indefinitely delayed a final ruling on a request by labor unions to block Elon Musk's government efficiency team from accessing internal system data, telling both parties, "You will hear from me," while declining to promise an exact time or date.
The update from U.S. District Judge John Bates, a George W. Bush appointee, comes just one week after he rejected an earlier request from unions representing Labor Department employees for a temporary restraining order to block DOGE access to internal system data. The judge said the plaintiffs lacked standing and failed to show they would be harmed as a result of the actions.
In response, the unions amended their complaint to broaden the scope of the lawsuit, adding the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Education and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Arguments Friday stretched for more than three hours, with plaintiffs arguing that DOGE employees were accessing their information illegally since DOGE is not technically a U.S. government agency.
"There has been reporting that DOGE is directing the cuts of agency staff and contracts, not simply advising the president," one lawyer for the plaintiffs told Judge Bates, "The situation is extremely fluid and changing," the plaintiffs argued.
They urged Judge Bates to grant a temporary request to block DOGE's access to the information, which they said would "force the agency to implement a more thoughtful process."
Meanwhile, the Justice Department argued in response that the DOGE personnel in question are "detailed" U.S. government employees who have access to the information under provisions of the Economy Act.
Judge Bates declined to rule from the bench, telling both sides only that "you will hear from me."
The update will likely do little in the near term to assuage concerns among employees at the Labor Department and other federal agencies over DOGE's access to sensitive internal data.
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Attorneys for unions representing Labor Department employees argued during last week's hearing that, absent court intervention, DOGE could access protected agency information, including the financial and medical records of millions of Americans, as well as employee safety and workplace complaints.
The plaintiffs noted that Labor Department systems contain sensitive information about investigations into Musk-owned companies Tesla and SpaceX, as well as information about trade secrets of competing companies, sparking concerns about Elon Musk's possible access to the information.
Attorney Mark Samburg argued that DOGE access to this information could have a "chilling effect" on new employees coming forward, due to fear of unlawful disclosure or retaliation.
"The sensitive information of millions of people is currently at imminent risk of unlawful disclosure," Samburg said.
Judge Bates suggested Friday that DOGE's creation and its hierarchy were "odd," noting that it "was created in a way to get it out of OMB [Office of Management and Budget], and instead answering to the chief of staff of the president."
DOGE "took great effort to avoid being an agency, but in this case, you're an agency," he said of DOGE. "It just seems to strain credulity."