On Thursday (February 6th), the U.S. Department of Treasury agreed not to grant access to its payment system to Elon Musk’s Government Efficiency Department (DOGE) during a court proceeding. Due to the issue of access to the Treasury Department’s system, DOGE is facing two lawsuits.
On Monday, a federal employee union and retirees filed a lawsuit in a federal court in Washington, D.C., alleging that the Treasury Department allowing DOGE “full access” to government payment records violated privacy laws, as these records encompass everything from income tax payments to social security benefits and federal employee salaries.
In response, an agreement reached on Wednesday night between the Treasury Department and a group of federal employee union and retirees will temporarily block the transfer of billions of sensitive government payment records to DOGE.
During a hearing on Wednesday, Treasury Department lawyers denied violating privacy laws, stating that only two individuals associated with DOGE had read-only access to its payment system, both of whom are special government employees of the Treasury Department.
Nevertheless, the government and the plaintiffs reached a preliminary agreement to prevent anyone else associated with DOGE from accessing payment records during the case proceedings.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bennett stated on Fox Business Channel on Wednesday that the Treasury Department’s payment system will not be influenced by Musk. He further mentioned that any decisions to halt payments would be made by other agencies.
On Thursday, a coalition of 14 state attorneys general announced their intention to file a lawsuit to prevent the Government Efficiency Department (DOGE) from accessing sensitive federal payment systems.
The alliance stated that DOGE, led by Musk, has no authority to access federal government systems. These systems contain personal data of Americans, state bank account information, and “some of our nation’s most sensitive data.”
The statement released by the alliance said, “This level of unauthorized access to personal information is illegal, unprecedented, and unacceptable. DOGE has no authority to access this information, and their clear intent to do so is to disrupt critical payments millions of Americans rely on – payments that support healthcare, childcare, and other essential programs.”
The attorneys general also stated that President Trump does not have the authority to grant DOGE access to Americans’ private information or to reject federally approved payments.
The 14 states planning to file the lawsuit include New Jersey, New York, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bennett granted DOGE access to the Treasury Department’s payment system after Trump took office on January 20. DOGE’s mission is to review agencies to find ways to potentially reduce spending and terminate expenses to decrease federal spending and improve government efficiency.
On February 4th, several Democratic members of Congress attempted to enter the Treasury Department building, stating they wanted to oversee DOGE’s access to the federal payment system. Democratic lawmakers have been calling for the revocation of this access.
Trump previously stated that Musk cannot take any action without White House approval and reassured that the government would intervene if there were conflicts of interest. The President told reporters in the Oval Office last month, “Where we think there could be a conflict or problem, we won’t let him near it, but he’s got some very good ideas.”
Additionally, on February 5th, one of the largest American unions petitioned a federal judge to halt DOGE’s access to the Department of Labor’s system.
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) requested that federal judge John Bates in Washington, D.C., block what they claimed was DOGE’s imminent plan to access the Labor Department’s information system.
The union stated that this could potentially give Musk access to non-public information from investigations by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) into his companies SpaceX, Tesla, and The Boring Company, as well as information about investigations into his competitors.
Both the 53-year-old Musk and a spokesperson for DOGE have so far not responded to these developments. White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt stated on Wednesday that Musk would avoid any matters where conflicts of interest exist.
(References from English Epoch Times and Reuters reports)