Court Declines (For Now) EPIC’s Call to Block DOGE Access to Personal Data at Treasury & OPM

A federal court in Virginia declined Friday to temporarily halt access by the “Department of Government Efficiency” to vast databases of personal data at the Treasury Department and Office of Personnel Management, denying a motion by EPIC and an anonymous government worker to enter a temporary restraining order.  

EPIC and the government worker, represented by counsel at Democracy Forward, filed suit earlier this month against Treasury, OPM, and the Elon Musk-run DOGE. As the complaint explains, the DOGE illegally forced Treasury and OPM to disclose vast stores of personal information from government workers and everyday Americans to unauthorized, untrained personnel with no legitimate purpose to access the data. These actions violate the Privacy Act, the Internal Revenue Code, and the Fifth Amendment right to information privacy, among other laws. 

Although Judge Rossie Alston of the Eastern District of Virginia concluded that EPIC and the government worker were not entitled to an injunction at this time, he expressed openness to the plaintiffs’ standing to bring their case, and he warned that further evidence of disclosure of tax information or other personal data from Treasury and OPM systems could lead to a different outcome. 

“We’re disappointed by the outcome at this early stage but we respect the court’s ruling,” said EPIC Director of Litigation John Davisson. “We’ll continue to bring forward evidence showing the gravity of throwing open sensitive agency databases, the existential privacy and security risks the DOGE is imposing on Americans, and the urgent need for the court to intervene. We expect to prevail in this fight.” 

On Monday, a federal court in Maryland entered a temporary restraining order against DOGE access to sensitive personal data held by OPM and the Department of Education in a case raising similar privacy and information security claims.