U.S. District Judge John Bates has ruled in favor of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), allowing Musk’s budget-slashing team continued access to critical records from the Department of Labor, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
The ruling deals a major blow to the entrenched bureaucracy and their progressive allies, who sought to block Musk’s efforts to streamline bloated agencies and cut unnecessary spending.
A coalition of left-wing unions and nonprofits had desperately attempted to shield the agencies from oversight, but the judge’s late-night decision on Friday kept DOGE’s mission alive.
U.S. District Judge John Bates, an appointee of former President George W. Bush, declined a request by unions and nonprofits to temporarily block Musk’s team from accessing records at the Departments of Labor and Health and Human Services, as well as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
In his written opinion, Judge Bates noted that it was likely the government was correct in asserting that DOGE qualifies as an agency, thereby allowing it to assign its staff to other government departments.
This ruling empowers DOGE to proceed with its mandate to identify and rectify wasteful practices within these agencies.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 15, 2025
ABC News reported:
The judge’s decision came down to the question of whether DOGE has the authority to “detail” its people to individual parts of the federal government where – as employees of that department or agency – the individuals associated with DOGE could legally access the sensitive records. To have that authority, DOGE would have to be considered an “agency” in the eyes of the law, Bates wrote.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs argued that DOGE is not an agency — because it was created via an executive order — and therefore is not entitled to detail its employees to parts of the federal government.
Curiously, lawyers for DOGE have attempted to avoid the “agency” label during court hearings despite its “strong claim” to agency status, Bates wrote.
“This appears to come from a desire to escape the obligations that accompany agencyhood” — such as being subject to the Freedom of Information Act, the Privacy Act and the Administrative Procedures Act — “while reaping only its benefits,” the judge wrote.
Ultimately, the disagreed with DOGE’s own interpretation of its status — determining it likely is an “agency” — and delivering it a surprise win by determining that DOGE has the authority to continue to access to sensitive records.
“For the reasons explained above, on the record as it currently stands and with limited briefing on the issue, the case law defining agencies indicates that plaintiffs have not shown a substantial likelihood that [DOGE] is not an agency. If that is so, [DOGE] may detail its employees to other agencies consistent with the Economy Act,” he wrote.
Last week, Bates also denied a motion by labor unions to block DOGE from accessing sensitive systems within the Department of Labor.
The lawsuit, brought by one of the largest labor unions in the U.S., aimed to obstruct what they described as Musk’s “imminent plan” to delve into the Labor Department’s systems.
Judge John D. Bates ruled that the plaintiffs failed to establish standing, a crucial legal threshold required to proceed with their claim.
The court found that the unions did not provide sufficient evidence showing that their members faced imminent harm from the DOGE Service’s data access.
Moreover, the court highlighted that while the plaintiffs articulated general concerns about data privacy, they did not demonstrate specific, individualized harm necessary to satisfy legal standing requirements.
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