Elon Musk’s Next Bold Move? Judge Greenlights Team’s Access to Top-Secret Education Systems!
A US judge has rejected a bid to prevent President Donald Trump’s government downsizing team, led by billionaire Elon Musk, from accessing internal Department of Education systems containing federal student financial aid information for millions of Americans. U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss in Washington declined to issue the University of California Student Association’s request for a temporary restraining order to prevent the department from disclosing information to people associated with Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
The student group’s lawyers argued that the Education Department’s decision to grant DOGE access to student data violated its obligations under a federal law known as the Privacy Act of 1974 and the Internal Revenue Code to protect borrowers’ sensitive personal information.
However, Moss, an appointee of Democratic former President Barack Obama, stated that the group presented no evidence “beyond sheer speculation” to support the conclusion that department or DOGE staffers would misuse or improperly disclose information that they are required by law to keep confidential.
The judge cited a declaration by Adam Ramada, a DOGE employee, who stated that the six people working with his team to audit the department for waste, fraud, and abuse and assist senior leadership in obtaining data understand they must follow the laws governing information disclosure.
According to Adam Pulver, the student organization’s lawyer at Public Citizen, the litigation will continue despite the judge’s decision, and “nothing in this ruling suggests that DOGE’s access to sensitive student data is legal.”
“As the case moves forward, we expect to learn more about just what DOGE is doing with the data students provided the department with an expectation of privacy,” according to Pulver.
The Education Department and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment. DOGE has swept through federal agencies since the Republican president returned to office last month, appointing the CEO of carmaker Tesla to oversee wasteful spending as part of Trump’s dramatic overhaul of government, which has included thousands of job cuts.
Several lawsuits have been filed by Democratic-led states and liberal-leaning legal groups in an attempt to prevent DOGE from accessing government systems. On Monday, Washington-based U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan said she hoped to rule within 24 hours on a lawsuit filed by 13 Democratic state attorneys general seeking to prevent Musk and DOGE from accessing various government systems and firing employees at seven agencies.
On Friday, U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas in Manhattan extended a ban on DOGE’s access to payment systems at the Treasury Department. Trump has called for the Education Department to be shut down, describing it as “a big con job.” He has nominated Linda McMahon, a former Small Business Administration chief and professional wrestling executive, to lead the department, which was established in 1979. McMahon reiterated his call for its abolition during her Senate confirmation hearing last week.
