A federal judge has temporarily blocked Elon Musk’s White House-backed efficiency team from accessing sensitive Treasury Department data following a lawsuit filed by 19 states challenging the legality of such access.
The lawsuit, brought by a coalition of mostly Democratic attorneys general, argues that President Donald Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent violated federal law by granting the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) entry into a database containing personal financial information of millions of Americans.
U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer issued an emergency order early Saturday restraining the administration from granting access to “all political appointees, special government employees, and government employees detailed from an agency outside the Treasury Department.” The judge further ordered that any DOGE members who had already accessed Treasury data must “immediately destroy any and all copies of material downloaded from the Treasury Department’s records and systems.”
A hearing is set for February 14 to determine whether the temporary order should be extended or made permanent.
Legal Basis and Privacy Concerns
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, claims the Trump administration’s move violates the Administrative Procedures Act (APA) by enacting policy changes without proper legal authority or public transparency. The plaintiffs assert that granting DOGE access to the Treasury’s Bureau of Fiscal Services (BFS) systems endangers billions of dollars in federal payments, including state grants, tax refunds, and social security disbursements.
“Bessent’s implementation of Treasury’s new broader access policy, allowing Musk and his DOGE team to access BFS’s payment systems, was adopted without any public announcement or explanation,” the lawsuit states. “Defendants have provided no justification for this policy change, nor did Treasury conduct a privacy impact assessment prior to implementing the change.”
New York Attorney General Letitia James, who is leading the lawsuit, accused the administration of overstepping legal boundaries.
“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,” James said in a statement. “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.”
Political and Legal Implications
The lawsuit follows growing scrutiny over Musk’s role in the Trump administration. Critics have raised alarms over DOGE staffers gaining entry to government agencies, with reports suggesting Musk’s team has been physically present at multiple federal departments.
On Friday, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) accused Treasury officials of misleading Congress regarding the scope of DOGE’s access. Meanwhile, the White House has defended the initiative, arguing that the task force is essential for curbing wasteful government spending.
Harrison Fields, the White House’s principal deputy press secretary, dismissed the lawsuit as politically motivated.
“Instead of working to become a party that focuses on the will of the people, they are hell-bent on keeping their heads in the sand and gaslighting on the widely supported mission of DOGE,” Fields said in a statement. “Slashing waste, fraud, and abuse, and becoming better stewards of the American taxpayer’s hard-earned dollars might be a crime to Democrats, but it’s not a crime in a court of law.”
Parallel Legal Action
This lawsuit is part of a broader legal battle over the administration’s executive actions. Earlier this week, a separate lawsuit filed by labor unions also sought to limit DOGE’s access to Treasury databases, alleging unauthorized information-sharing.
A federal judge granted temporary relief in that case, restricting Treasury access to regular employees and two temporary staffers linked to DOGE until further legal review.
The case is New York v. Trump, No. 25-cv-1144, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).
