Says Trump administration failed to provide sufficient justification for gaining access to the information
Federal judge Deborah Boardman on Monday, February 24, 2025 issued a temporary restraining order saying disclosure of the education department’s sensitive personal information to DOGE affiliates is irreparable harm that money damages cannot rectify.” She also said the Office of Personnel Management can’t disclose the information.
In her opinion, Judge Boardman wrote that “DOGE affiliates have been granted access to systems of record that contain some of the plaintiffs’ most sensitive data — Social Security numbers, dates of birth, home addresses, income and assets, citizenship status, and disability status — and their access to this trove of personal information is ongoing. There is no reason to believe their access to this information will end anytime soon because the government believes their access is appropriate.”
It should be noted that last week a federal judge in a related case refused to issue a restraining order restricting Musk’s team, finding that the group that brought the lawsuit had not shown that a group of students who had lodged similar complaints had suffered clear harm by having their data analyzed by affiliates of Mr. Musk.