A Federal judge in Maryland ruled on Monday that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the departments of Treasury and Education are barred from sharing personally identifiable information (PII) with the White House’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
The lawsuit, filed by unions and membership organizations, is one of many that are aiming to stop Federal agencies from disclosing records with PII to DOGE.
In her 68-page memorandum opinion, Judge Deborah L. Boardman said that OPM, Treasury, and Education “likely violated the Privacy Act” and the Administrative Procedure Act by disclosing records with the plaintiffs’ PII to DOGE affiliates.
Additionally, the judge said that the administrative records show that DOGE affiliates “do not need to know this information to perform their job duties.”
The lawsuit was filed by the American Federation of Teachers, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association, the National Federation of Federal Employees, the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, and six veterans.
The plaintiffs specifically cited the Treasury Department giving DOGE access to its payment systems – which contain PII including names, Social Security numbers, and bank information.
They also cite Education’s management of the Federal student loan system and OPM’s management of systems with information about Federal employees – which also contain PII.
“No matter how important or urgent the President’s DOGE agenda may be, Federal agencies must execute it in accordance with the law. That likely did not happen in this case,” Boardman wrote.
The judge granted the plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction, meaning the agencies are barred from sharing any PII information with any DOGE affiliates. Boardman ordered the parties to file a joint status report on “whether the government intends to file a notice of appeal or whether the Court should enter a scheduling order” by March 31.