The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit on Tuesday vacated a lower-court injunction that had barred the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, from tapping into databases at the Treasury Department, the Department of Education and the Office of Personnel Management. The 2–1 ruling immediately restores DOGE’s access to Social Security numbers, citizenship records and other personal information the agency says it needs to identify wasteful federal spending. Tuesday’s decision reverses a March order by U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman, who had sided with the American Federation of Teachers and the National Federation of Federal Employees in finding that broad data sharing could violate the Privacy Act. Writing for the appellate majority, Judge Julius N. Richardson said the unions were unlikely to prevail and compared DOGE to an outside consultant that must first review systems before recommending fixes. Judge G. Steven Agee joined the opinion; Judge Robert B. King dissented. The panel noted that the Supreme Court in June lifted a similar injunction that had blocked DOGE from obtaining data at the Social Security Administration, calling the two cases “exceedingly similar.” While the Fourth Circuit’s ruling allows DOGE to resume work, the underlying privacy lawsuit returns to the district court for further proceedings. Established by President Donald Trump in February and briefly led by tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, DOGE is tasked with modernising government IT and trimming costs across agencies. The administration argues that broad, temporary access to federal databases is essential for detecting inefficiencies, while unions warn that millions of Americans’ personal details could be placed at risk. Further appeals, including a possible en banc review, remain a possibility.