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Judge John D. Bates ruled that he had grave concerns about the privacy issues raised but that the case did not meet the high legal bar for immediately blocking access.
Members of the American Federation of Government Employees union gathered in Washington this week to protest cuts by Elon Musk and the so-called Department of Government Efficiency. Credit… Samuel Corum for The New York Times Feb. 15, 2025, 12:26 a.m. ET A federal judge declined on Friday to block the access of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency to records systems containing personal information at the Health and Human Services Department, the Labor Department and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a setback for unions and nonprofits trying to fight Elon Musk’s effort to cut and reshape government.
In an 11-page ruling, Judge John D. Bates of the Federal District Court in Washington wrote that he had grave concerns about the privacy issues raised by the case, particularly because the data in question “includes information on all Americans who rely on Medicare and Medicaid, as well as countless consumers.”
But, he added, the case made by the plaintiffs — led by the A.F.L.-C.I.O., an umbrella group of unions that represent many federal workers — did not meet the high legal bar necessary for him to immediately block the initiative’s access while the case proceeded.
“The record indicates,” Judge Bates wrote, that members of Mr. Musk’s team are federal employees “who have a need for the record in the performance of their duties.”
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