Feds: No Evidence DOGE Committed History's 'Largest' Breach
The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC)'s claim that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is committing "the largest data breach in history" lacks supporting facts, according to DOGE, the U.S. Treasury Department and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). As such, dismissing EPIC's case against DOGE is the best choice, the three federal entities said in a filing Tuesday.
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"Plaintiffs allege -- at most -- that federal agencies have granted access to federal data systems to federal employees expressly tasked with improving the federal government’s IT infrastructure," the government said. Since "federal employees have always had access to these data systems," the plaintiffs' true issue is about "which federal employees are now accessing those systems. In Plaintiffs’ view, only 'career civil servants' should be allowed into the systems, rather than the employees that the new Administration has selected for the task."
"But this personnel preference is not the stuff of a federal action," the government continued. "The intangible injuries Plaintiffs assert -- 'unease,' 'offense,' and 'fear,' -- do not meet even the threshold standing requirements of Article III, much less state a claim for relief. Nor may Plaintiffs rely on speculation as to future harms that may, or may not, occur if the information within the data systems were somehow compromised."
EPIC filed suit against the government in U.S. District Court of Eastern Virginia in February, alleging Elon Musk, head of DOGE at the time, illegally forced the Treasury and OPM to disclose personal information to unauthorized staff, blocked civil servants and gained full access to government payment systems, which contained sensitive personal information, including social security numbers, taxpayer ID numbers and home addresses of millions of individuals (see 2502110056).
EPIC doubled down on case 25-00255 when it filed an amended complaint in early May, adding allegations that the agencies were violating the Privacy Act of 1974, the Fifth Amendment and the separation of powers (see 2505070015).