Today, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that the plaintiffs—AFL-CIO, AFGE, AFSCME, SEIU, CWA, and the Economic Policy Institute—did not have standing and declined to grant a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) that bars DOGE from accessing private worker and other sensitive data at the Department of Labor. Statement by AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler:
Every minute that Elon Musk and his unelected, unaccountable DOGE have access to Department of Labor data, our nation’s workers, their privacy, and the integrity of DOL’s mission are at risk. Musk has a record of repeated violations of labor and employment laws resulting in numerous DOL investigations—but tonight, a court refused to block DOGE from seizing the information infrastructure of the very agency entrusted with protecting workers from bad employers like him.
This is a setback, but not a defeat. With each passing day, public outrage at allowing Musk to access Americans’ most private information grows. The AFL-CIO, our affiliated unions, partners, and allies will provide further evidence of standing and renew our efforts to block DOGE from accessing sensitive data at DOL and through our government, continuing the fight for transparency, accountability, and the protection of the fundamental rights generations of workers fought to enact.
Contact: Steve Smith, 202-637-5018