Judge John D. Bates late Friday night rejected a union request for a Temporary Restraining Order that would have stopped Elon Musk’s DOGE access to confidential information on the Department of Labor’s computer servers.
Then unions’ complaint warned that
DOGE will have access to highly sensitive data, including, among many others, medical and benefits information about all federal workers with worker compensation or Black Lung claims, the identities of vulnerable workers who have sought the Department’s protection via wage and hour or occupational safety complaints, and investigative and litigation records of the Bureau of Labor Statistics data crucial to an accurate understanding of the state of our economy. DOGE will also have access to information regarding investigations of Mr. Musk’s corporate interests and the sensitive trade secret information held by the Department, including those of the competitors of those corporate interests.
And stated that DOGE “lack statutory authority and violates the Privacy Act and the Administrative Procedure Act.”
DOL employees were ordered to give DOGE access to whatever they ask for—or risk termination.
DOL employees were ordered to give DOGE access to whatever they ask for—or risk termination.
The lawsuit was filed the same day that labor-led demonstration at the Department of Labor stopped DOGE from physically meeting with DOL officials. Judge Bates issue a temporary halt in DOGE’s activities while he considered the unions’ request.
Judge Bates, who was appointed by former President George W. Bush, acknowledged that “This data includes the medical and financial records of millions of Americans.”
Even as he rejected the unions’ request, Bates expressed deep concerns about DOGE accessing Labor records.
“You have a great deal of confidence in a couple of people who, according to public reports, are very young, who have never been in the federal government, never had any training with respect to the handling of confidential information,” Bates said. “You’re asking me to just put absolute confidence in the fact that nothing inappropriate will happen.”
But he nevertheless refused to grant the Temporary Restraining Order because of the groups’ lack of “standing.” Standing means they must demonstrate a sufficient connection to and harm from the law or action being challenged . Bates found that the unions had “failed to show that “at least one particular member is substantially likely to suffer an injury” with DOGE access.”
Now I’m not an attorney, but nevertheless, it doesn’t make sense to me how unions — who represent workers across the United States who clearly have concerns about the confidentiality of their information and actions — don’t have “standing.”
And honestly, I can’t see how this nation’s business community can stand buy and watch one man — the richest man in the world — to have access to all of the country’s most valuable and confidential business data.
A Setback, Not a Defeat
But all is not lost. One bit of encouraging news was an order by a federal judge on Saturday temporarily restricting access by DOGE to the Treasury Department’s payment and data systems, citing a risk of “irreparable harm.”
U.S. District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer also ordered DOGE to “immediately destroy any and all copies of material downloaded from the Treasury Department’s records and systems, if any.”
On the face of it, this was a lawsuit similar to the one challenging DOGE’s access to Labor Department data.
Ultimately, this is somewhat of a technical issues and the unions are working on the “standing” issue and preparing to go back into battle, and are looking to include three other federal agencies: Health and Human Services, the Department of Education and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
“This is a setback, but not a defeat. “– AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler
AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler stated that
This is a setback, but not a defeat. With each passing day, public outrage at allowing Musk to access Americans’ most private information grows. The AFL-CIO, our affiliated unions, partners, and allies will provide further evidence of standing and renew our efforts to block DOGE from accessing sensitive data at DOL and through our government, continuing the fight for transparency, accountability, and the protection of the fundamental rights generations of workers fought to enact.
Defending this nation from internal enemies is going to be a long slog. We’re just at the beginning. Without Congress — which is controlled by Republicans who seem to have forgotten Congress is supposed to be a branch of government separate from the Executive branch — we are highly dependent on the courts for now. And judicial action, even when successful, often takes a long time.
We will win some. We will lose some. There will be some steps forward and steps back. The important thing is to keep pressing.
“Defending this nation from internal enemies is going to be a long slog”
Define “internal enemies”. Who are you talking about specifically?
Pretty sure it’s obvious. Internal enemies like Elon Musk (and his minions) as well as Donald Trump. Both are blatantly violating the Constitution, ignoring Congress and breaking laws to the determent of the American people, American security and America’s place in the world.
What Jordan said…