cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/35711976

A lawsuit seeking to stop the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) from disclosing tens of millions of Americans’ private, sensitive information to Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) can continue, a federal judge ruled Thursday.

Judge Denise L. Cote of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York partially rejected the defendants’ motion to dismiss the lawsuit, which was filed Feb. 11 on behalf of two labor unions and individual current and former government workers across the country. This decision is a victory: The court agreed that the claims that OPM illegally disclosed highly personal records of millions of people to DOGE agents can move forward with the goal of stopping that ongoing disclosure and requiring that any shared information be returned.

Cote ruled current and former federal employees “may pursue their request for injunctive relief under the APA [Administrative Procedure Act]. … The defendants’ Kafkaesque argument to the contrary would deprive the plaintiffs of any recourse under the law.”