Elon Musk · DOJ · Federal Reserve (FED) · Donald Trump · Fortune Technology
Judge: Federal government lawyers ‘barely defend’ giving Elon Musk’s DOGE illegal access to government data
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The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) breached federal law by sharing sensitive government data with the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), according to a federal judge.
Key facts
- In a 39-page ruling released on Tuesday, Judge Denise Cote said OPM violated the Privacy Act of 1974, a post-Watergate law which prohibits the disclosure of certain records and outlines requirements
- While DOGE agents have had access to sensitive OPM data since September 2025, one former agent is not employed at OPM, Cotes said
- The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) breached federal law by sharing sensitive government data with the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), according to a federal judge
- A coalition of unions, including the AFL-CIO, filed a lawsuit against DOGE and the Department of Labor in February 2025, challenging the special advisory’s access to private information
Summary
In a 39-page ruling released on Tuesday, Judge Denise Cote said OPM violated the Privacy Act of 1974, a post-Watergate law which prohibits the disclosure of certain records and outlines requirements for safeguarding others, and subsequently disobeyed its own cybersecurity practices. OPM failed to provide a credible reason for why DOGE would need access to personally identifiable information (PII) of tens of millions of federal employees, as well as applicants and retirees, according to Cote. “The defendants barely defend its legality, relying instead on what has happened since to argue that the case is moot and that prospective relief is unnecessary,” Cote wrote in her ruling.