Judge blocks Musk’s Doge from accessing millions of Americans’ data

A federal judge on Monday temporarily blocked billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency from accessing people’s private data at the Education Department, the Treasury Department and the Office of Personnel Management.

US District Judge Deborah Boardman issued a preliminary injunction in a case filed last month by a coalition of trade unions in federal court in Maryland. Led by the American Federation of Teachers, the plaintiffs allege Trump’s administration violated federal privacy laws when it gave Doge access to systems with personal information on tens of millions of Americans without their consent.

Boardman, who was nominated to the federal bench by former US president Joe Biden, had previously issued a temporary restraining order. The preliminary injunction offers longer-term relief blocking Doge access as the case plays out.

The judge found the Trump administration likely violated the law. She said the government failed to adequately explain why Doge needed access to “millions of records” to perform its job duties.

She also said the Trump administration can still carry out the president’s agenda without receiving unfettered access to a trove of personal data on federal employees and people with student loans and government benefits. That includes their income and asset information, Social Security numbers, birth dates, home addresses, and marital and citizenship status.

“They trusted the federal government to safeguard their information. That public trust likely has been breached,” Boardman wrote in her opinion.