In February, representatives of Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) gained access to multiple sensitive internal systems, including a financial aid dataset. Two lawsuits were filed immediately. In the first, on February 24, in a case brought by the American Federation of Teachers against three federal agencies (the Office of Personnel Management, ED, and the U.S. Department of Treasury), a judge blocked DOGE employees from accessing sensitive personal information held at ED and blocked the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) from "disclosing personally identifiable information to any OPM employee working principally on the DOGE agenda." In the same ruling, the judge declined to block access to Treasury data. The Temporary Restraining Order was subsequently extended until March 24, 2025.

In response to a separate lawsuit, filed on February 11, ED agreed to temporarily block DOGE from accessing sensitive student data, including student loan data. This action was the result of a lawsuit filed by the University of California Student Association. ED is prohibited from allowing DOGE staffers to access 13 federal databases, including the National Student Loan Data System.

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• Student and Parent Data Should be Private