Musk's DOGE team can access sensitive data for now, appeals court rules
Source: Reuters
April 7, 2025 3:48 PM EDT Updated 4 min ago
April 7 (Reuters) - A divided federal appeals court on Monday put on hold an injunction that blocked Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency from accessing Americans' private data at the Treasury and Education departments and the Office of Personnel Management. In a 2-1 vote, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals stayed the March 24 preliminary injunction imposed by U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman in Greenbelt, Maryland, while the government pursues its appeal.
The Richmond, Virginia-based appeals court separately voted 8-7 against taking up the matter "en banc," meaning all active judges would decide. A dissenting judge warned that letting DOGE access personal information belonging to millions of Americans "lets the proverbial genie out of the bottle." The appeals court set an expedited schedule for the appeal, and will hear oral arguments on May 5. Five labor groups led by the American Federation of Teachers and six military veterans accused President Donald Trump's administration of violating federal privacy laws by letting Musk's team review Americans' sensitive personal data.
The information includes Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses, income, citizenship status, student loan borrowings and veterans' disability benefits. The Treasury Department maintains systems for disbursing Social Security benefits, income tax refunds and other sums. Critics have said giving Musk and DOGE wide berth could lead to the government's using sensitive personal data for other purposes, such as to pursue Trump's immigration goals.
DOGE was created to advance Trump's effort to downsize the federal government. Musk, the world's richest person and CEO of electric car company Tesla (TSLA.O) was hand-picked by Trump to head DOGE. The case is separate from a lawsuit challenging DOGE's access to Social Security databases. Neither the plaintiffs' lawyers nor the Department of Justice immediately responded to requests for comment.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/musks-doge-team-can-access-government-data-now-appeals-court-rules-2025-04-07/
Per the OP - there is a different case still going regarding access to Social Security data.
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