Trump scores big win as DOGE is allowed to sift through Americans' sensitive financial data
The agency will now have access to financial data from the Treasury Department, the Education Department and the Office of Personnel Management.
Earlier this year, the American Federation of Teachers and the National Federation of Federal Employees sued to stop DOGE over alleged privacy violations.
But DOGE will now have access to social security numbers and the citizenship status for tens of millions of individuals across the country.
The lawsuit will continue through litigation - but for now it is a judicial victory for the Trump administration as it seeks to cut costs with DOGE.
Upon taking office, Trump appointed billionaire Elon Musk to DOGE in an effort to dramatically shrink federal spending and bureaucracy in the executive branch.
Under Musk's reign, the agency found itself at the center of multiple lawsuits as it sought to rapidly gain access to data across the federal government.
Musk resigned from DOGE back in May after falling out of favor with the president and the White House inner circle.
Judge Julius N. Richardson cited a June decision by the Supreme Court that allowed DOGE analysts access to Social Security data as reason to let DOGE staffers get their hands on the sensitive materials.
Richardson, who was appointed by Trump, was joined in the majority opinion by Judge G. Steven Agee, a former President George W. Bush appointee.
Meanwhile, the only dissenting opinion was written by Judge Robert B. King, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton.
Previously, the Justice Department has argued throughout multiple lawsuits that DOGE needs access to large quantities of personal data on Americans to reduce wasted taxpayer money.
The government has offered to make DOGE staffers undergo security training and background checks as part of their concessions to federal judges.
However, the Supreme Court and other judges have more recently have sided with the Trump administration regarding DOGE's access to data.
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