District Court Denies EPIC’s Motion for Temporary Restraining Order Against OPM, Treasury
The U.S. District Court for Eastern Virginia on Friday denied a motion for a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and Treasury Department by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) for the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)’s access to sensitive information.
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“As a threshold matter, Plaintiffs’ standing to pursue their claims appears, at best, questionable in the context of seeking injunctive relief; the Complaint does not appear to allege concrete harm resulting from Defendants’ actions that would satisfy the injury in fact requirement,” the court said. “Given the extraordinary nature of the remedy and the speculative, attenuated nature of the potential harm that Plaintiffs face, the Court cannot issue injunctive relief based on the current record before it.”
EPIC sued OPM, the Treasury Department and DOGE on Feb. 10 over the alleged seizure of personnel records and payment system data, calling it the “largest data breach in American history” (see 2502110056). The acting director of OPM and the Treasury Secretary opposed the TRO motion on Feb. 19 (see 2502190067).
EPIC responded in a statement Monday, indicating confidence that they will prevail in the fight, despite this denial. “We’re disappointed by the outcome at this early stage but we respect the court’s ruling,” said John Davisson, director of litigation for EPIC. “We’ll continue to bring forward evidence showing the gravity of throwing open sensitive agency databases, the existential privacy and security risks the DOGE is imposing on Americans, and the urgent need for the court to intervene.”