(Reuters) – A divided federal appeals court on Monday put on hold a preliminary injunction that had blocked the U.S. Office of Personnel Management and the Department of Education from turning over sensitive data to Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency.
In a 2-1 vote, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals stayed the injunction imposed by U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman in Greenbelt, Maryland, pending an appeal.
The Richmond, Virginia-based appeals court also voted 8-7 against taking up the matter “en banc,” in which all active judges would decide. Two judges appointed by Democratic presidents joined six Republican appointees in that majority.
DOGE was created to advance U.S. President Donald Trump’s effort to downsize the federal government.
Groups including the American Federation of Teachers sued to prevent Musk’s team from reviewing data including Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses, income, citizenship status and student loan borrowings for millions of Americans.
They claimed that letting DOGE see the data violated people’s privacy and could let the government use the data for other purposes, such as to advance Trump’s immigration goals.
The Department of the Treasury, which maintains systems for disbursing Social Security benefits, income tax refunds and other sums, was also sued.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The U.S. Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a similar request.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Mark Porter and Leslie Adler)
