Federal judge blocks Musk’s DOGE from access to Treasury Department material
“A federal judge issued an emergency order early Saturday prohibiting Elon Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service from accessing personal and financial data on millions of Americans kept at the Treasury Department, noting the possibility for irreparable harm.
“U.S. District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer’s decision also ordered Musk and his team to ‘immediately destroy any and all copies of material downloaded from the Treasury Department’s records and systems, if any.’
“The conditions are in place until another judge hears arguments on the matter on Feb. 14.
“The ruling came hours after attorneys general from 19 states sued to stop Musk’s team from dealing with sensitive files during its review of federal payment systems — an unprecedented effort that skirted firm security measures that permitted access to systems only to trained Treasury employees.
“In a four-page order, Engelmayer said the states that sued the Trump administration ‘will face irreparable harm in the absence of injunctive relief.’”
“Under the order, the Trump administration is prohibited from giving access to political appointees, special government employees or government employees that are not assigned to the Treasury Department. The White House has said that Musk has been designated a special government employee.”
“‘As Democratic attorneys general we are suing to stop this unprecedented and unauthorized attack and to protect your personal information,’ James said in a videotaped statement.
“The payments involve ‘essential’ needs such as health care and child care, James said.”
“Americans depend on Treasury’s payment processing for Social Security disbursements, tax refunds, veteran services, Medicare and Medicaid. It pays out trillions annually, supporting federal grants to states for uses such as disaster relief, education programs, social services and law enforcement initiatives.”