Judge: Unions 'Lack Standing' To Block DOGE From Department of Labor
The judge's decision is a setback for unions hoping to stop DOGE from auditing other agencies.
By Peter List, Editor | February 7, 2025
POLITICO is reporting that, on Friday night, a federal judge rejected labor unions’ push to block Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team from data at the US Department of Labor.
District Judge John Bates, an appointee of former President George W. Bush, said that the groups failed to properly show the standing necessary to win the temporary restraining order they sought against the Department of Government Efficiency, while expressing sympathy for their concerns that the Musk-led effort presents privacy risks.
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The setback comes as the unions had planned to expand their lawsuit to cover additional agencies beyond DOL that have come under DOGE’s scrutiny, including the Department of Health and Human Services , Education Department and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Importantly, POLITICO notes, “Bates’ ruling clears the way for DOGE to begin examining dozens of Labor Department systems, including those that relate to workers compensation claims, workplace safety investigations and key gauges of the U.S. economy.” [Emphasis added.]
The Friday night ruling comes on the heels of the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) revising 2024 job growth downward.
“The BLS overstated nonfarm payrolls for March of 2024 by 589,000,” reported macro-economic writer Mike Shedlock. “More negative revisions are coming.”
As the accuracy of BLS data has long been in question in certain circles, including President Trump last year, the ability of the DOGE team to crunch the numbers may reveal some answers, or remove the doubts.