Washington — A federal judge on Friday declined to limit the White House Department of Government Efficiency’s access to Department of Labor systems as members of the task force led by billionaire Elon Musk are fanning out across federal agencies as part of President Trump’s directive to slash the size of the government.
U.S. District Judge John Bates denied the request to issue a temporary restraining order while legal proceedings continue in the court battle brought by six labor unions and the Economic Policy Institute.
“On the current record, plaintiffs have failed to establish standing,” Bates wrote. “So although the Court harbors concerns about defendants’ alleged conduct, it must deny plaintiffs’ motion at this time.”
The unions have argued that the task force known as DOGE is violating multiple laws by seeking access to sensitive systems, including at the Treasury Department and Office of Personnel Management. Citing the actions of DOGE employees at the other agencies, lawyers for the unions said the Musk-led body’s next target is the Department of Labor.
“They will demand that DOGE staff be granted access to systems that they are legally barred from; they will fire any employee who protects the integrity of those systems; and they will claim power and authority that Congress has never granted them with respect to agency staff and Department programs,” union lawyers wrote in a filing.
Mark Samburg, who is representing the unions, told Bates during a hearing that information from millions of people housed within Department of Labor systems is at imminent risk of disclosure, which he said underscores the need for the court to step in and limit DOGE’s access.
He said allowing DOGE to continue to access systems could have a chilling effect on the Labor Department’s confidentiality.
Michael Gerardi, a lawyer for the Justice Department, defended DOGE’s actions and said the task force is accessing the information to follow through on Mr. Trump’s executive order creating it.
Citing public media reports, the judge pushed back on the government’s attorney, telling him, ” You’re asking me to put absolute confidence in the fact that nothing will happen,” after noting the young age of DOGE employees and what he said was their inexperience with government agencies.
Bates later told Gerardi that these are people from outside the Department of Labor “who are accessing the systems for a reason that has nothing to do with why the system was created.”
Samburg then highlighted public reports indicating DOGE employees are “regularly violating the law” and said there is a federal law in place that established a set of standards for maintaining personal information.
The swift actions of Musk’s DOGE and its employees has jolted the federal government, as its employees have turned up at several federal agencies seeking access to its systems and the information contained within in them. Several lawsuits have been filed that aim to restrict DOGE’s ability to get its hands on the information.
A federal judge earlier this week limited DOGE employees working at the Treasury Department with access to payment record or system of record. Those who can see that information will have “read only access,” according to the judge’s order.
