Department of Education claims immunity from students’ DOGE lawsuit

The Department of Education has claimed immunity from a lawsuit taken by students trying to stop massive federal cuts.

Why It Matters

The students are trying to stop the Department of Education from sharing student loan information with the Department of Government Efficiency and its director, Elon Musk.

If the Department of Education succeeds in obtaining immunity from DOGE lawsuits, other Trump administration departments would likely claim the same immunity.

Musk would then be able to continue with his plan to cut the federal budget by up to $2 trillion a year.

Newsweek sought email comment from the Department of Education and the Department of Government Efficiency.

What To Know

The University of California Student Association is suing the Department of Education education secretary, Linda McMahon, in a Washington, D.C. court to stop the sharing of student loan information with DOGE.

In a motion to dismiss filed on April 8, the Department of Education claimed it has immunity from the lawsuit.

“Federal sovereign immunity has not been waived as to Defendants,” the motion states.

“Defendants enjoy sovereign immunity from suit,” it states, citing the 2017 Washington, D.C case of Perry Cap. LLC v. Mnuchin.

It also quotes from Justice Thurgood Marshall delivering the Supreme Court’s opinion in the 1983 case of United States v. Mitchell: “It is axiomatic that the United States may not be sued without its consent and that the existence of consent is a prerequisite for jurisdiction.”

In the Mitchell case, people owning allotted lands on the Quinault Indian Reservation, and the Quinault Tribe itself, sought damages from the United States for what they claimed was the mismanagement of timberlands in the reservation.

The Department of Education motion states: “The United States’ immunity generally
extends to its agencies and officers acting in their official capacity.”

It then cites two federal cases that it claims recognize that a lawsuit “for specific relief against a federal official acting in his official capacity is a suit against the sovereign [nation].”

The motion adds that, while there are exemptions to sovereign immunity, they do not apply in the students’ case.

What People Are Saying

The University of California Student Association lawsuit, filed on February 10, alleges that the Department of Education “did not publicly announce this new [DOGE] policy—what is known is based on media reporting—or attempt to justify it.”

“Rather, ED secretly decided to allow individuals with no role in the federal student aid program to root around millions of students’ sensitive records.”

In its April 8 motion to dismiss, the Department of Education states that the student association has already failed twice in court.

“Plaintiff filed this suit to challenge data-access policies at the Department of Education. An early motion for emergency injunctive relief failed, because Plaintiff had not shown actual or certainly impending irreparable harm.”

“A subsequent motion for expedited discovery was also denied.”

“The Court may nevertheless sidestep these facts, and look only to the complaint to conclude that Plaintiff does not have a case,” the motion states.

What Happens Next

A judge will have to rule on the Department of Education’s motion to dismiss.

If the motion fails, the judge will continue to consider the merits of the case.