Court Rules DOGE, OPM Privacy Case Should Continue
A federal district court allowed a case challenging the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) for improperly accessing sensitive information at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to continue Friday. Judge Denise Cote of the U.S. District Court for Southern New York ruled the federal government’s arguments for dismissal failed to show the case was moot.
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Also in her opinion, Cote denied plaintiffs’ request for extended discovery. Cote wrote that the American Federation of Government Employees and other plaintiffs hadn't shown the "unusual circumstances" needed for extra-recorded discovery.
OPM's arguments against continuing case 1:25-cv-01237 (see 2512180031 and 2512080033) were denied in part because, as Cote said, “Five DOGE Agents remain at OPM and may have indirect access to [personally identifiable information (PII)] in OPM data systems."
The judge added, “What this lawsuit is fundamentally about is not whether OPM had sufficient procedures to safeguard its systems ... but whether OPM violated the law ... when it granted individuals working on the DOGE agenda broad access to highly sensitive and legally protected record.”
Despite OPM’s newly created protocols, Privacy Act violations could still occur, the judge added. Moreover, though assertions that “DOGE Agents do not ‘currently’ have access to OPM data systems,” the federal government “offers no assurance that DOGE Agents’ access to OPM systems will not be restored.”