DOGE can access sensitive data at federal agencies, appeals court rules

By Caroline Boda
The Center Square

An appeals court ruled Tuesday to allow the Department of Government Efficiency access to sensitive data stored by three federal agencies.

The ruling overrides a lower court’s decision in February which blocked DOGE from accessing Americans’ data at the Education Department, Treasury Department and the Office of Personnel Management.

Now, the Virginia-based federal appeals court says DOGE can move ahead in retrieving “high-level I.T. access” to sensitive data in their efforts to root out waste, fraud and abuse within the federal government.

The three-judge panel ruled 2-1 in DOGE’s favor and cited a Supreme Court decision in June which allowed DOGE members to utilize sensitive records at the Social Security Administration.

President Donald Trump appointed Telsa CEO Elon Musk to head the newly created DOGE in a day-one executive order. Musk and his team vowed to save taxpayers $2 trillion by shutting down federal agencies like the U.S. Agency for International Development and by firing thousands of probationary workers.

Musk stepped down from DOGE in May and relations between him and Trump have since turned sour. While DOGE’s work has continued without Musk’s leadership since then, the agency has faced a flurry of legal challenges to its cost-cutting measures.

The appeals court’s ruling was in response to a lawsuit brought forth by a group of labor unions, including the American Federation of Teachers and the National Federation of Federal Employees. The group argued that DOGE’s moves to access the sensitive data of millions of Americans violated privacy rights.

The sensitive data stored by the three federal agencies may include social security numbers, student debt information, citizenship status and employer details.

Judge Julius N. Richardson, writing for the court’s majority, said the labor unions did not convey how they would be injured by DOGE’s access to the data. In his dissenting opinion, Judge Robert B. King backed the labor unions’ concerns over DOGE’s lack of transparency and unfettered access to Americans’ data.