U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas granted the employees access to the Bureau of the Fiscal Service and ruled that the Trump administration does not have to seek court permission for additional DOGE employees to access the system.
“There is little utility in having this Court function as Treasury’s de facto human resources officer each time a new team member is onboarded,” Vargas said.
The initial news in February that DOGE was trying to access the system caused outrage among Democrats, leading to a lawsuit from 19 Democratic state attorneys general. DOGE was initially blocked from accessing the system, with any access contingent on proof that the employees would mitigate security concerns.
“Taking the time to adequately mitigate potential security concerns and properly onboard members to engage in this work outweighs the Defendants’ immediate need to access and redevelop Treasury systems,” Vargas said at the time.
JUDGE ALLOWS ONE DOGE EMPLOYEE ACCESS TO TREASURY DATA
After the Trump administration set up a system to train employees accessing the BFS, Vargas relented. She initially granted access to one DOGE employee in April and has gradually extended access since.
The Democratic attorneys general approved access to the system on the condition that the employees are properly trained.
