A Federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday that the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) can maintain access to sensitive data held by Federal agencies.
In a 2-1 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit said that DOGE can continue accessing personal information held by the Treasury Department, the Office of Personnel Management, and the Education Department.
The court decided that the plaintiffs in the case “likely lacked standing” to sue and “struggled to show” they suffered harm in the case.
“Prying eyes and probing fingers can be as disquieting when aimed at one’s private affairs as when aimed at one’s private bedroom,” Judge Julius “Jay” N. Richardson, joined by Judge G. Steven Agee, wrote.
“But in those situations, it is not the information obtained, but the knowledge that a third party is engaged in targeted snooping, that causes the harm … That sort of harm is not present here,” Richardson wrote.
The judge also noted that the DOGE employees were given a “broad and open-ended duty” to improve the quality and efficiency of IT across government. “To insist that the DOGE affiliates explain in advance the exact information they need and why is to demand something just short of clairvoyance,” he wrote.
The ruling aligns with a decision made by the Supreme Court in June that allowed DOGE unfettered” access to sensitive data held by the Social Security Administration (SSA).
“We conclude that, under the present circumstances, SSA may proceed to afford members of the SSA DOGE Team access to the agency records in question in order for those members to do their work,” the Supreme Court said in its decision.
Alexandra Reeve Givens, CEO of the Center for Democracy and Technology, said the appeals court’s decision is “part of a disturbing effort by the federal government to amass information about people and overturn longstanding privacy norms under the guise of fighting fraud, waste, and abuse.”
“The Fourth Circuit’s decision to revoke an order protecting the sensitive information of millions of people is reckless and threatens our country’s bedrock values around safeguarding privacy,” Givens said.