A federal judge delivered a major victory for labor unions Thursday by temporarily blocking Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from accessing sensitive Department of Labor (DOL) data.
The ruling comes amid growing concerns that DOGE, focused on cutting federal spending, could misuse or tamper with crucial worker-related records.
The decision follows a lawsuit filed Wednesday by a coalition of federal employee unions, including the American Federation of Government Employees and the American Federation of Labor. The lawsuit argued DOGE's demand for immediate access to DOL systems threatened workers' rights and privacy. DOGE operatives ordered employees to comply "without question" or risk termination, according to the complaint.
In response to the ruling, union leaders celebrated what they called a crucial step in preserving government oversight.
🚨NEWS: A temporary order has been issued blocking the Labor Dept. from sharing any data with DOGE, after a group of unions, including AFGE, sued DOGE and held a major protest outside DOL yesterday.
Here's the union's email: pic.twitter.com/hhYyy0YNTu — Lauren Kaori Gurley (@LaurenKGurley) February 6, 2025
"As many of you may know, the DOGE Team visited as planned. However, thanks to our swift response and the support of our labor partners, we successfully obtained a temporary order preventing DOL from sharing any data with DOGE," read an email sent by union officials Thursday, obtained by the Washington Post.
"This order remains in effect until the court rules on the temporary restraining order. The DOGE will continue to visit but should not be accessing anything. Keep your eyes and ears open. Please let us know if you see or hear something you can prove. This will be critical," the email continued.
The battle over DOGE access extends beyond the Labor Department. DOGE has aggressively sought control over Treasury Department systems, prompting a judge to impose temporary limits on data-sharing outside the department.
DOGE has also seized access at USAID and the Office of Personnel Management, triggering high-profile resignations from officials opposed to its actions.
get-the-marshmallows on February 6th, 2025 at 22:42 UTC »
Guys—THE PRESSURE IS WORKING. It’s not working nearly as quickly as we’d like, or as thoroughly as we’d like, but it is working. Keep at it. Push harder. Don’t be lulled into submission by fake concessions. We are starting to become a problem for them and the more we do that, the more we can get.
Fascism thrives in darkness. It’s a lot harder to make out like a bandit when everybody knows that you’re breaking in. And thankfully, these people are some of the most incompetent and inelegant bandits to ever thieve. They are not good at this. That may be the one big advantage we have here and goddamn it we are going to use it.
ranchoparksteve on February 6th, 2025 at 22:32 UTC »
There really needs to be personal lawsuits against the individual IT people, something regarding identity theft.
HenryDorsettCase47 on February 6th, 2025 at 22:29 UTC »
Now get him away from Medicaid and Medicare because slashing that is top of their hit list.