Friday, a federal judge granted a request from several organizations that will allow attorneys to question Department of Government Efficiency and Department of Labor officials under oath.
Plaintiffs plan to file a preliminary injunction motion request with the court to stop the Department of Labor from giving DOGE access to what plaintiffs have described as personal and sensitive information of federal workers and other individuals. Plaintiffs argued that in order to gather enough information to file a pending preliminary injunction motion, they will need permission to question certain government employees under oath.
U.S. District Court Judge John D. Bates, who granted the request, said the questions will be limited in scope. Under this granted motion of expedited discovery, attorneys for the plaintiffs will able to submit written questions to defendants. Plaintiffs will also be allowed to submit requests for documents from the defendants and will be permitted to conduct depositions of the defendants. Depositions are recorded sworn oral testimonies.
Plaintiffs convinced the judge that sworn testimonies were necessary in this case because DOGE’s current structure and the extent of its authority is still unknown. There is an open question of whether these employees are allowed to view the personal information of Americans under the privacy act.
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, along with other organizations, initially filed the lawsuit in early February, alleging that DOGE staffers are gaining access to sensitive for federal workers and other individuals and the Department of Labor’s leadership has not fought back. The lawsuit alleges some of that sensitive data includes “... medical and benefits information about all federal workers with worker compensation or Black Lung claims.”
“Contrary to its statutory and regulatory obligations, the Department of Labor and its current leadership are acceding to this takeover, ordering Department employees to give DOGE access to whatever they ask for regardless of security protocols — or risk termination,” plaintiffs wrote in their lawsuit.
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Defendants argue against allowing sworn testimony of DOGE employees, saying “...the interrogatories and document requests are unduly burdensome because of the number of subparts and the focus on agency structure, training, and systems usage.”
But Judge Bates said four of five factors "... weigh in favor of granting plaintiffs’ motion..." He also wrote providing certain requested information would not be burdensome, especially since it does not require DOGE employees look beyond the start of President Donald Trump’s second term which started on January 20, 2025.
