Federal judge blocks DOGE from accessing Treasury Department records after 19 states sue Trump administration
A federal judge in New York early Saturday blocked Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency from accessing Treasury Department records that contain sensitive personal data such as Social Security and bank account numbers for millions of Americans.
U.S. District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer issued the preliminary injunction after 19 Democratic attorneys general sued President Trump. The case, filed in federal court in New York City, alleges the Trump administration allowed Musk's team access to the Treasury Department's central payment system in violation of federal law.
Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin joined the suit, as DOGE continues its sweep through the federal government, demanding access and information, some of it sensitive.
The lawsuit asked a judge to grant a temporary restraining order against the Trump administration, alleging a violation of the Privacy Act of 1974 and the Tax Reform Act of 1976, as well as other laws. The lawsuit also argues that DOGE's access poses cybersecurity risks.
"Nineteen States bring this action against Treasury, the Treasury Secretary, and the President to put an end to this new dangerous expanded access policy," the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York reads.
"In the past week, the U.S. Department of the Treasury has given Elon Musk access to Americans' personal private information, state bank account data, and other information that is some of our country's most sensitive data," James said in a statement prior to the lawsuit's filing.
However, the Treasury Department has said that DOGE only has "read only" access to its systems and cannot affect expenditures, according to a letter a department official sent to Congress Wednesday.
CBS News has reached out to the White House for comment on the lawsuit.
DOGE, a Trump administration task force assigned to find ways to reduce federal spending, now has access to a Treasury unit called the Bureau of the Fiscal Services, which disburses trillions in payments each year, including Social Security checks and federal salaries, according to The Associated Press.
According to the lawsuit, prior to DOGE receiving access, "only a limited number of career civil servants at BFS with appropriate security clearance had access to the BFS payment systems."
Since Feb. 2, however, the lawsuit states that, at the direction of the president and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the Treasury "adopted and began implementing a new policy that grants expanded access to BFS payment systems to political appointees and 'special government employees' ('SGEs') for reasons that have yet to be adequately explained."
That is in reference to Musk's categorization by the White House as a special government employee.
"As the richest man in the world, Elon Musk is not used to being told 'no,' but in our country, no one is above the law. The president does not have the power to give away our private information to anyone he chooses, and he cannot cut federal payments approved by Congress," James said in her previous statement. "This level of access for unauthorized individuals is unlawful, unprecedented, and unacceptable. DOGE has no authority to access this information, which they explicitly sought in order to block critical payments that millions of Americans rely on — payments that support health care, childcare, and other essential programs."
