A federal judge on Friday said he would not immediately block the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, from accessing systems at the Labor Department.
U.S. District Judge John Bates said he had concerns about DOGE but that the labor unions who sued to block their access to the systems have not yet provided evidence of any legal injury.
“Although the court harbors concerns about defendants’ alleged conduct, it must deny plaintiffs’ motion at this time,” Bates wrote.
The Labor Department has investigated companies like SpaceX and Tesla that are owned by Elon Musk, who leads DOGE, and keeps records on these investigations. The department also has information about these companies’ competitors’ trade secrets, the unions said in the lawsuit.
FEDERAL JUDGE ORDERS LIMITED DOGE ACCESS TO SENSITIVE TREASURY DEPARTMENT PAYMENT SYSTEM RECORDS
Elon Musk, who is leading the Department of Government Efficiency. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
The department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has investigated and fined SpaceX and Tesla over worker safety, the unions said.
The Labor Department’s systems contain medical and financial records of millions of Americans, including those who have filed safety complaints about their employers.
The ruling comes after the Trump administration agreed earlier this week that DOGE would not receive access to the Labor Department until this court decision.
The Justice Department said there are three DOGE staffers assigned to the Labor Department and reporting to its acting secretary, although they have been made special government employees and are required to follow the law with any sensitive information about corporations or workers as they conduct a review.
Elon Musk speaks at the SATELLITE Conference and Exhibition in Washington, D.C., on March 9, 2020. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
Musk’s DOGE team had gained access to sensitive Treasury Department payment systems, although a judge has since blocked that access to Treasury records containing sensitive personal data such as Social Security and bank account numbers for millions of Americans. DOGE has also largely dismantled the U.S. Agency for International Development and offered financial incentives to millions of federal workers to resign.
“At every step, DOGE is violating multiple laws, from constitutional limits on executive power, to laws protecting civil servants from arbitrary threats and adverse action, to crucial protections for government data collected and stored on hundreds of millions of Americans,” labor union lawyers represented by the advocacy group Democracy Forward wrote.
ELON MUSK DUNKS ON SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER, DECLARING ‘HYSTERICAL REACTIONS’ DEMONSTRATE DOGE’S IMPORTANCE
Elon Musk attends the opening of the Tesla factory Berlin Brandenburg in Gruenheide, Germany on March 22, 2022. (Patrick Pleul/Pool Photo via AP)
Labor Department leadership told a union member this week that DOGE would be visiting and workers should let them do “whatever they ask, not to push back, not to ask questions,” the unions wrote.
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The Justice Department said there is no evidence of wrongdoing and the judge should not issue “a sweeping, prophylactic order … based on plaintiffs’ rank speculation that DOL will violate the law.”
Nineteen states have sued over DOGE’s access to federal payment systems.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
