Fourth Circuit Panel Vacates the Injunction Barring DOGE From Treasury, Education and OPM Records (AFT v. Bessent)

A divided Fourth Circuit panel vacated Judge Deborah Boardman’s Maryland preliminary injunction that had kept DOGE affiliates out of Treasury, Education and OPM records: “Plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction is vacated”. The panel held that “The district court abused its discretion in finding that Plaintiffs were likely to prevail on each one” of several issues. It added: “We do not hold with certainty that Plaintiffs lack standing”, or that the access fell within the Privacy Act’s need-to-know exception.

Ledger class. FOUND at the district court (preliminary), then REVERSED on likelihood of success. The en banc court later abrogated this panel’s probability-multiplying reasoning in the companion SSA case, but did not revive this injunction; see 2026-04-10–fourth-circuit-en-banc-vacates-afscme-v-ssa-injunction-irreparable-harm-only.