A federal judge has ruled in favor of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), granting it access to student loan data despite objections from student groups who argue it could cause irreparable harm.

The ruling comes as Musk has pledged to slash the federal budget by up to $2 trillion annually, including billions in federal student loan funding, Newsweek noted.

U.S. District Judge Randolph D. Moss in Washington, D.C., ruled on February 17 that he would not grant a temporary restraining order against Acting Secretary of Education Denise Carter, allowing her to provide student loan data to DOGE. The University of California Student Association (UCSA) had sought the order, arguing in legal filings that DOGE’s access to student loan information would violate privacy rights and could potentially be misused.

Moss, who was appointed by President Barack Obama, ruled that: “UCSA’s members are not suffering (and will not suffer) an irreparable harm.

“In general, injuries are not ‘irreparable’ if there is a ‘possibility’ that ‘adequate compensatory or other corrective relief will be available at a later date,’” he said, quoting from the 1984 decision in Wisconsin Gas Co. v. F.E.R.C.