WASHINGTON: A US federal judge early on Saturday issued an emergency order blocking Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency team from accessing sensitive personal and financial data stored at the Treasury Department, court documents showed.
US District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer’s order restricts giving access to Treasury Department payment systems and other data to “all political appointees, special government employees, and government employees detailed from an agency outside the Treasury Department.”
The temporary restrictive order, which remains in effect until a February 14 hearing, also says any such person who has accessed data from the Treasury Department’s records since Donald Trump was inaugurated as president on January 20 must “immediately destroy any and all copies of material downloaded.”
Musk, the world’s richest person, is leading Trump’s federal cost-cutting efforts under the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
The case was brought against Trump, the Department of the Treasury and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Friday by attorneys general from 19 states.
The attorneys general alleged the administration violated the law by expanding access to sensitive Treasury Department data to staff from Musk’s DOGE.
Engelmayer’s order said the states that sued would “face irreparable harm in the absence of injunctive relief.”
“That is both because of the risk that the new policy presents of the disclosure of sensitive and confidential information and the heightened risk that the systems in question will be more vulnerable than before to hacking,” he wrote.
Musk ran into controversy last week with reports he and his team were accessing sensitive data stored at the Treasury Department.
An internal assessment from the Treasury called the DOGE team’s access to federal payment systems “the single biggest insider threat the Bureau of the Fiscal Service has ever faced,” US media reported.
Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency was created to discover and eliminate what the Trump administration has deemed to be wasteful government spending. DOGE’s access to Treasury records, as well as its inspection of various government agencies, has ignited widespread concern among critics over the increasing power of Musk, while supporters have cheered at the idea of reining in bloated government finances.
Musk has made fun of criticism of DOGE on his X social media platform while saying it is saving taxpayers millions of dollars.
James, a Democrat, said the president does not have the power to give away American’s private information to anyone he chooses, and he cannot cut federal payments approved by Congress.
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The lawsuit alleges that DOGE’s access to the Treasury records could interfere with funding already appropriated by Congress, which would exceed the Treasury Department’s statutory authority. The case also argues that the DOGE access violates federal administrative law and the US Constitution’s separation of powers doctrine.
It also accuses Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent of changing the department’s longstanding policy for protecting sensitive personally identifiable information and financial information to allow Musk’s DOGE team access to its payment systems.
The Treasury Department has said the review is about assessing the integrity of the system and that no changes are being made. According to two people familiar with the process, Musk’s team began its inquiry by looking for ways to suspend payments made by the US Agency for International Development.
Separately, Democratic lawmakers are seeking a Treasury Department investigation of DOGE’s access to the government’s payment system.
