(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge will hear arguments Monday on efforts by a group of California public university students to block Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency from accessing highly sensitive federal student loan records maintained by the Department of Education.
An organization representing more than 200,000 students enrolled in California’s public universities has brought suit seeking a temporary restraining order to block DOGE from accessing the student loan records as part of its effort to slash government spending.
The lawsuit, one of several that DOGE is facing, alleges that individuals associated with DOGE are illegally attempting to access the personal and financial information of the more than 42 million borrowers — accounting for more than 12% of the U.S. population — who have federal student loans.
A handful of people working with DOGE were spotted at the Department of Education last week and some now have access to the agency’s records and files, according to sources familiar with the matter.
“The scale of the intrusion into individuals’ privacy is enormous and unprecedented,” the lawsuit said, alleging that Musk’s team could access the bank account numbers, income information, dates of birth, and social security numbers of millions through the Education Department’s Office of Federal Student Aid.
DOGE workers are now listed in the Department of Education’s email directory, meaning they were hired as employees, sources also told ABC News.
The Department of Education is the smallest cabinet-level agency, with 4,400 employees. Some 1,400 employees work in the department’s FSA office, which distributes money — including loans and grants — for students to pursue higher education.
The University of California Student Association lawsuit, filed against Acting Secretary of Education Denise Carter, alleged that DOGE has engaged in a “systematic, continuous, and ongoing violation of federal laws” meant to protect the security of data held by the federal government.
“People who take out federal student loans to afford higher education should not be forced to share their sensitive information with ‘DOGE.’ And federal law says they do not have to,” the lawsuit said. The lawsuit also raised concerns with the lack of transparency surrounding DOGE, which they alleged might share the sensitive information with third parties.
“Because Defendants’ actions and decisions are shrouded in secrecy, individuals do not have even basic information about what personal or financial information Defendants are sharing with outside parties or how their information is being used,” the lawsuit said.
Last week, Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer wrote a letter to Carter requesting information about whether Musk and his team have been provided access to National Student Loan data, among other sensitive borrower information.
“There are over 40 million federal student loan borrowers in the United States,” the senators, along with 14 others, wrote. “It is not at all clear that DOGE officials meet the strict criteria that would allow them to access this sensitive information protected by federal law–or whether DOGE officials have gained access to other sensitive ED databases as part of their efforts to “reform” the agency,”
The senators also asked Carter to describe what safeguards are in place to ensure that student loan data is not misused. The letter urged Carter to ensure that Musk and his team have not been provided access to any other databases managed by the department.
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