The judge declined to block the employees further Friday after issuing an initial pause to their access, which limited it to two employees with read-only privileges. Another court order is currently blocking DOGE‘s access to the systems entirely.
The lawsuit was filed by advocacy and union groups that are concerned DOGE would expose their sensitive information. The judge in the case, U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, said those concerns are “understandable and no doubt widely shared” but that the plaintiffs haven’t shared anything to indicate any immediate risk of lasting damage from information being revealed.
The employees are already obligated to keep such information secret.
“If Plaintiffs could show that Defendants imminently planned to make their private information public or to share that information with individuals outside the federal government with no obligation to maintain its confidentiality, the Court would not hesitate to find a likelihood of irreparable harm,” Kollar-Kotelly wrote.
“But on the present record, Plaintiffs have not shown that Defendants have such a plan,” the judge added. “If circumstances change, Plaintiffs are free to return to federal court to seek any proper emergency remedy.”
One source of the plaintiffs’ concern is that one of the employees with access resigned after a series of racist social media posts were revealed. He has since been hired back by Elon Musk.
Kollar-Kotelly is keeping her options open if relevant evidence comes to light that there are privacy concerns, saying she “would not hesitate” to pause it again.
Regardless of what the judge ultimately decides, DOGE is currently under an order from a Manhattan court restricting its access to the Treasury’s systems. Over a dozen state attorney generals sued DOGE to block it from accessing the files.
“Musk and DOGE are trying to wipe out vital programs and services — from healthcare to public safety to education — that our communities need,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement last month. “I led a coalition of attorneys general to put a stop to this lawlessness, and a federal court has yet again blocked their access to our confidential information.”
TRACKING WHAT DOGE IS DOING ACROSS THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
Part of the controversy surrounding the case is whether Musk is the leader of DOGE, which the White House has denied. It has asserted that he is a senior adviser to the president. The worry stems from whether Musk, a billionaire with several government contracts through his company SpaceX, will have access to Americans’ personal files.
Amy Gleason has been named the administrator of DOGE. However, President Donald Trump has said Musk is the head of the agency on several occasions.