Judge OK’s labor groups’ challenge to DOGE data work at DOL, CFPB, HHS

A coalition of labor unions and economic groups can go forward with a lawsuit that challenges the accessing of Americans’ data by Elon Musk’s DOGE at three agencies, a federal judge ruled late Wednesday.

Judge John D. Bates of the District Court for the District of Columbia said the plaintiffs — the AFL-CIO, the American Federation of Government Employees, SEIU and several others — have standing to sue DOGE, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the departments of Labor and Health and Human Services over possible violations of the Administrative Procedure Act. 

The APA dictates how federal agencies are supposed to operate, establishing laws for rulemaking and other administrative and management functions. Though Bates denied plaintiffs’ other challenges related to the Privacy Act, he said claims of DOGE acting beyond its APA authority were “adequately” stated by the groups.

The plaintiffs argued that the agencies’ “unlawful” disclosure of sensitive information to DOGE was done so without any consent. 

Associates with the Musk-led group followed a similar playbook across DOL and HHS, the groups said, accessing personally identifiable information housed in systems including the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Integrated Management Information Systems and the Employee Benefit Security Administration’s Enforcement Management System, among several others. DOL leadership instructed agency staffers to give DOGE representatives access to “anything they want,” the groups claimed.

At the CFPB, DOGE was allegedly given free rein to burrow into the more than 40 agency systems containing Americans’ PII. That access came at a time when Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought ordered the CFPB to stop nearly all its work and Musk posted “CFPB RIP” to his X account.

Ultimately, Bates determined that “defendants’ across-the-board policies … to grant [DOGE] personnel access to sensitive record systems” constituted “a final agency action.” Those actions, Bates noted, are reviewable under the APA.  

Democracy Forward, which represents the labor and economic groups in their lawsuit, applauded Bates’ decision. 

“The American people deserve to know what is happening behind closed doors as Elon Musk and his DOGE staff hide in the shadows, create chaos and make decisions that dramatically affect the lives of millions of families,” said Skye Perryman, president and CEO of the nonprofit legal services organization. “We are pleased that the labor and economic organizations who are standing up for the rights of people and the rule of law will get to have their day in court as this case proceeds.”