The nation’s second-largest teachers’ union, along with three other labor unions, this week sued three federal agencies, alleging that they improperly disclosed Americans’ sensitive information to billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
The complaint accuses the Education Department, the Office of Personnel Management, and the Treasury Department of violating federal privacy laws by granting Musk’s employees access to the agencies’ data systems, which includes the Social Security numbers, bank account numbers, and the dates and places of birth of millions of Americans. The lawsuit is asking the court to block DOGE’s access to these data systems.
The lawsuit was filed on Monday in federal court by the American Federation of Teachers, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association, the National Federation of Federal Employees, as well as six people who the lawsuit says have been “directly harmed” by what Musk’s employees are doing.
The six individuals, including a political science instructor, are all military veterans who have received various federal financial benefits over the years, including student loans. The lawsuit says they’re worried about how their information could be compromised by DOGE.
President Donald Trump, through executive order, has given DOGE a broad mandate to slash trillions in government spending. (Despite its name, DOGE is not a Cabinet-level agency; it is an office run by Musk, who holds special government employee status.)
This week, DOGE abruptly canceled nearly $900 million in contracts funded by the U.S. Department of Education—part of the Trump administration’s efforts to start downsizing the department.
The administration has not said what DOGE is doing with the data it has accessed from several government agencies.
The coalition of unions argues in the lawsuit that the OPM and the education and treasury departments are violating the Privacy Act of 1974, which says government agencies may not disclose an individual’s data to any person or to another agency without their consent, except in limited circumstances.
A spokesperson for the Education Department said the agency does not comment on pending litigation. But the department on Tuesday agreed to block DOGE from accessing student loan data and other sensitive information until Feb. 17, after the University of California Student Association filed a similar lawsuit last week, Politico reported.
Most people who have provided their information to the government “assume that agencies are not only using it in ways that are compliant with the law, but have an expectation that [agencies] will take good care of [their] data,” said Elizabeth Laird, the director of equity in civic technology for the Center for Democracy and Technology, a nonprofit focused on technology policy and consumer rights.
“Even if it is found that these laws aren’t being violated, it is very fair and important to also understand what kind of security practices and protocols are being used in the sharing of this very sensitive information,” she said.
Part of a functioning democracy is having government transparency, Laird said. The Trump administration should be “proactively communicating” with the public about what data DOGE has accessed and the legal reasons behind it, she added.
AFT warns of safety risks from exposed student loan data
The unions’ lawsuit joins a growing list of litigation that contend that DOGE is defying federal laws.
“Inside the Department of Education, the world’s richest man is rifling through 45 million people’s private student loan accounts and feeding the data into artificial intelligence,” said AFT President Randi Weingarten in a statement announcing the lawsuit. (Several news organizations, such as the Washington Post and The New York Times have reported that DOGE is using AI to determine potential spending cuts.)
In a Wednesday press briefing, a parent, a student, and a school counselor spoke about how they’re affected by DOGE’s access to their records.
“When I filled out the FAFSA, I gave my Social Security number and my parents’ income information, as well as their investment information,” said Sara Porcari, a high school student in Maryland. “I thought that information would be private and secure. Now I’m not sure what’s happening.”
Ernesh Stewart, a school counselor in Washington, D.C., said she has questions for Musk: “Why do you really want to access everyone’s data so badly? ... In my profession, we strive to get to the root cause of an issue and to dig really deep. So I want to know, what’s your purpose?
“I feel like it’s a gross violation of privacy, and I’m frightened to see what will come of this,” she added. “Something tells me that it’ll hurt rather than help the people that the Department of Ed strives to support.”
The AFT also demanded answers from Linda McMahon, Trump’s pick for education secretary, during her confirmation hearing Thursday.
“What we want to hear is that Linda McMahon is concerned about this and is going to take immediate action upon her confirmation to stop this breach of privacy,” Weingarten said in the briefing.
A group of 16 Democratic senators led by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer have also launched a probe into DOGE’s access to student loan data.
“This deeply troubling report raises questions about potential exposures of Americans’ private data, the abuse of this data by the Trump Administration, and whether officials who have access to the data may have violated the law or the federal government’s procedures for handling sensitive information,” the senators wrote in a Feb. 6 letter to acting Education Secretary Denise Carter.
