First Judicial Decision to Initiate Discovery Will Force Accountability, Transparency for American People

Washington, D.C. – A coalition of labor and economic organizations representing more than four million workers has been granted discovery for their legal effort to stop Elon Musk’s so-called “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) from unlawfully accessing U.S. Department of Labor, Department of Health & Human Services, and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau systems and information. 

Plaintiffs, represented by Democracy Forward, include the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees (AFL-CIO), the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the Communications Workers of America (CWA), the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), nonpartisan think tank Economic Policy Institute, and nonprofit organizations Virginia Poverty Law Center (VPLC) and Economic Action Maryland Fund (EAMF).

“DOGE has been hiding in the shadows, creating chaos and wreaking havoc across our nation. The American people deserve to know what is happening behind closed doors and advancing to discovery is an important step in this case,” said Skye Perryman, President & CEO of Democracy Forward. “This process will help shine a light on how DOGE operates, and how it is using its unprecedented access to highly-sensitive information across the federal government.”

Since President Trump’s inauguration, Elon Musk’s DOGE has launched a sweeping campaign to access highly-sensitive information systems and work to dismantle and restructure multiple federal agencies unilaterally.

A copy of the complaint can be found here and the ruling granting discovery can be found here. 

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