The Office of Personnel Management was found to have violated the law by providing the Department of Government Efficiency with access to its databases containing information on current and former federal workers, as well as job seekers, following the inauguration of President Donald Trump, according to The Hill.
Such access, which allowed DOGE to send government buyout email offers to employees, was in breach of the privacy act, said U.S. District Judge Denise Cote in a ruling that approved an injunction prohibiting further DOGE access on OPM databases. Cote also noted the action to be in violation of the Administrative Procedures Act. "The plaintiffs have pointed to clear evidence that the DOGE agents did not need access to the records disclosed to them, much less the administrative access that they were given... Database administrators who were responsible for the normal functioning of those systems had their access revoked," said Cote.
Such access, which allowed DOGE to send government buyout email offers to employees, was in breach of the privacy act, said U.S. District Judge Denise Cote in a ruling that approved an injunction prohibiting further DOGE access on OPM databases. Cote also noted the action to be in violation of the Administrative Procedures Act. "The plaintiffs have pointed to clear evidence that the DOGE agents did not need access to the records disclosed to them, much less the administrative access that they were given... Database administrators who were responsible for the normal functioning of those systems had their access revoked," said Cote.
