Judge denies union demand to block DOGE’s access to Labor Department data

A federal judge on Friday night rejected labor unions’ push to block Elon Musk’s government efficiency team from accessing sensitive data at the Labor Department. District Judge John Bates, an appointee of former President George W. Bush, said that the groups failed to properly show the standing necessary to win the temporary restraining order they sought against the Department of Government Efficiency, while expressing sympathy for their concerns that the Musk-led effort presents privacy risks. “This data includes the medical and financial records of millions of Americans,” Bates wrote in a nine-page order. “But on the current record, plaintiffs have failed to establish standing.” The setback comes as the unions had planned to expand their lawsuit to cover additional agencies beyond DOL that have come under DOGE’s scrutiny, including the Department of Health and Human Services , Education Department and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Bates’ decision was delivered shortly after an hourslong hearing on the matter in which the judge posed sharp questions to lawyers for both the unions, who first brought the lawsuit on Wednesday, and the Trump administration. The government had argued that the union’s lawsuit was overly reliant on speculation and the claims of a single anonymous agency staffer. It also had agreed to limit DOGE’s interactions with DOL as a result of the lawsuit, pending Friday’s hearing. But Bates’ ruling clears the way for DOGE to begin examining dozens of Labor Department systems, including those that relate to workers compensation claims, workplace safety investigations and key gauges of the U.S. economy.

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