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Victory for DOGE as appeals court reinstates access to personal data
Divided court sides with Trump admin in case over alleged privacy law violations.
A US appeals court ruled yesterday that DOGE can access personal data held by the US Department of Education and Office of Personnel Management (OPM), overturning an order issued by a lower-court judge.
The US government has "met its burden of a strong showing that it is likely to succeed on the merits of their appeal," said yesterday's ruling by the US Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit. In a 2-1 decision, a panel of judges granted the Trump administration's motion to stay the lower-court ruling pending appeal.
"The Supreme Court has told us that, unlike a private party, the government suffers an irreparable harm when it cannot carry out the orders of its elected representatives... Judicial management of agency operations offends the Executive Branch's exclusive authority to enforce federal law," wrote Court of Appeals Judge Steven Agee, a George W. Bush appointee.
