A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has declined to issue a temporary restraining order against Elon Musk’s Department of Education (DOE) team, marking a rare decision within the D.C. Circuit.
On Monday, Judge Randolph Moss, an Obama appointee, ruled that the University of California Student Association (UCSA) failed to demonstrate concrete harm, calling their claims “entirely conjectural.”
JUST IN: U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss just declined to block DOGE from accessing Education Department data on student borrowers.
He ruled the Student Association, which brought the lawsuit, didn’t show sufficient irreparable harm. pic.twitter.com/tBqIlKJg5v
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) February 18, 2025
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The UCSA, which represents students within the University of California school system, filed a lawsuit last Tuesday seeking to prevent Musk’s associates from accessing student data housed within the Education Department.
However, Judge Moss found no evidence that Musk or the Department of Governmental Efficiency (DOGE) team would “misuse or further disseminate this information.”
As with other lawsuits filed against Musk and DOGE, the court determined that the plaintiffs lacked standing.
During the hearing, Judge Moss appeared skeptical of the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) arguments regarding the role of DOGE within the federal government.
He questioned whether members of Musk’s team had been conducting data reviews across multiple agencies in a manner that exceeded the typical scope of a transition team.
“If these are people who work for an entity that was just stood up in the White House office a couple weeks ago, that have gone out in teams across the government, where individuals are not assigned to just one agency but to multiple agencies, and are going in and systematically going through vast quantities of data in a manner that is unparalleled in the history of the executive branch — in lightning speed throughout the government — that does seem a little bit different than the usual transition,” Judge Moss stated.
In a separate ruling on Tuesday, another federal judge in Washington imposed a temporary restriction preventing Musk’s team from accessing more than a dozen DOE systems that store sensitive data. That restriction is set to remain in place until Monday.
Two legal organizations representing UCSA filed the lawsuit, arguing that Musk’s operatives should be barred from reviewing student loan application data due to privacy concerns.
Students routinely provide personal identifying information when applying for federal aid, and the plaintiffs alleged that there was a risk that data could be misused outside of the department.
However, when questioned in court, UCSA’s legal counsel admitted there was no evidence that the information was being used for immigration enforcement.
Court records note that UCSA’s counsel was asked directly whether “there was any reason to believe this [information] is being used for immigration purposes,” and they conceded that no such evidence existed.
The court also cited statements from the government regarding DOGE’s intended use of the data, indicating that any misrepresentation would require prompt notification to the court.
As the record stands, the court stated that there is no basis to conclude the information would be used for purposes beyond the statutory mission of the Department of Education.
This case unfolds against the backdrop of ongoing legal battles involving the Musk administration and federal agencies.
While Judge Moss’s ruling denies the restraining order, the temporary data access restriction remains in place for now.
The dispute highlights broader concerns within the D.C. Circuit about executive branch oversight and the extent to which new administration officials can access and utilize federal data systems.
Further legal developments are expected in the coming weeks as the case progresses through the courts.
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