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Federal judge blocks Elon Musk's DOGE from accessing sensitive US Treasury Department material

The case alleges the Trump administration allowed Musk's team access to the Treasury Department's central payment system in violation of federal law

Federal judge blocks Elon Musk's DOGE from accessing sensitive US Treasury Department material

The case alleges the Trump administration allowed Musk's team access to the Treasury Department's central payment system in violation of federal law

Thanks everybody for joining on, uh, late on *** Friday. I appreciate your presence. I'm California Attorney General Rob Bonta, and this afternoon I, along with 18 of my fellow attorneys general sued the Trump administration to stop the unauthorized and unlawful disclosure of Americans private and sensitive information to associates at the Department of Government Efficiency, more commonly known as DOS. Uh, an organization, by the way, run by billionaire private citizen Elon Musk, and before I get into the details, I want to thank the members of my team at California DOJ who've been working around the clock working overtime, particularly the government law section and Office of the Solicitor General. Thank you to my team. Uh, they are all dedicated public servants who've been working tirelessly to monitor the barrage, the blitz, the frenzy of executive orders and actions pouring out of this administration that so we can. Uh, so that we can take swift, meaningful action when they break the law. The Treasury Department's decision to provide Doge associates access to the Treasury's central payment system blatantly violates the American people's right to privacy and puts vital payment systems at risk. It's *** flagrant abuse of the trust the American people put in our federal government. And it's *** gross and blatant power grab. President Trump has no constitutional, statutory, or regulatory authority to expand unauthorized access to the payment system for political appointees or special government employees, no matter how wealthy they are or how many companies they've led. The president doesn't have the authority to give away access to Americans bank account information or Social Security numbers at his leisure. Our private data isn't Mr. Trump's to share. It isn't Mr. Musk's to mine. We're asking the court to immediately halt this dangerous access and permanently prevent political appointees, special government employees or employees from an agency outside of the Treasury Department from gaining access to Americans private personally sensitive information. The Treasury Department's payment system managed by the Bureau of the Fiscal Service BFS is responsible for paying the US government's bills, sending trillions of dollars each year in Social Security payments, Medicare benefits, veterans benefits, salary payments, tax refunds. And more payments that millions of Americans rely on that Americans have earned, deserve, and are owed payments Americans count on coming through without *** hiccup, payments that are needed to fund essential state programs. These payment systems are critical, sensitive, and undeniably vital to the economic stability and security of our nation. Which is why federal law strictly limits access to *** select group of civil servants who have the appropriate clearances. Why access has been and should be highly regulated and tightly guarded until Trump took office and brought along his billionaire buddy. It's unclear all that Musk and his team would do with this expanded access, but we know what they could do. With the click of *** button, they could block federal funds for health care, child care, and other critical services. They could interfere with billions of dollars that states rely on for law enforcement, public education, and infrastructure repairs. Can't wait around and see what Doge does with our data. We need to protect it now. As *** people we should be able to entrust our federal government with our sensitive personal information. We should be able to trust that the people who have access to it are qualified, vetted, and trustworthy. We should be able to trust that the federal government will make its payments on time, just as we expect of any employer or consumer. We should be able to trust that those running our federal government are abiding by the laws and operating within the bounds of our constitution. The Trump administration and Doge are not. As as chief law officer of the state of California, it's my job to uphold and enforce our laws and protect the people of this great state. Today that includes suing the federal administration to stop them from violating the law. Before I open it up to questions, I want to recognize the members of my team at California Department of Justice who made this lawsuit possible Michael Cohen, Nick Green, Mark Beckington, Jay Russell, Thomas Patterson, Stacy Chesser, John Eschevarria, Christina Boll Art, John Wolf, Ellie Bloom. Thank you to my team, and with that I'd be happy to take questions. Thank you. If you'd like to ask *** question, please click the raise hand icon at the bottom of your screen, then you will be moved to the queue. I will call on you and then you can state your name and publication. You can also use the Q&A feature at the bottom of your screen to ask your question or email our press inbox, and we can read the question for you. First question comes from Rachel, Rachel, you're now unmuted. Great, thanks so much and thanks Mr. Attorney General Rachel Bluth from Politico here. Um, is there any evidence yet that any individual Californians data has been impacted, um, or can you point to any specific state programs, um, that are having payment problems? Right now we are focused on the violations of the law that exists based on the access to unauthorized users like Elon Musk. We are asserting claims under the Administrative Procedures Act. Uh, that say there's no authority for, for this, uh, authorization to unqualified, unvetted, um, individuals, um, that, uh, the following procedures weren't weren't followed, um, and that, um, there's no rationale for it that it's arbitrary and capricious. We also have *** constitutional claim that the only reason um that to provide this access would be to do what they have what the Trump administration has been saying, promising. Um, threatening to do, which is block payments, um, we have evidence that, uh, $3 trillion was, was sought to be blocked, uh, with an OMB memo that we have *** separate litigation on. Uh, we also have *** constitutional claim based on the Take Care clause which indicates that, uh, it's the executive branch's job to execute the laws to take care that they are executed appropriately, including all of the privacy protections that that apply here, and there are multiple multiple statutes and regulations that that apply here. So the, the access, uh, we believe, uh, creates injury and uh when there's imminence and predictability that that injury may come, uh, we believe that that's an appropriate time to act and that's why we've acted here. OK. Next question comes from Laurel. Laurel, you're now unmuted. Thank you. I just wanted to clarify because there are so many different actions going on. So yesterday your office put out *** statement saying that you would be suing over this, and there was some media coverage and today you're putting today you today you actually filed the suit and so this, this, um. Discussion right now is because what you said yesterday that would happen now today has happened, or is there some different, different thing, different action that happened today, different from what you said yesterday would, would happen? Thank you. We, you have it right, uh, we made *** statement yesterday to, um, communicate to our constituents who are very concerned and we have been flooded. Our inbox has been flooded and we are not alone among attorneys general nationwide with um concerned Americans who are are beside themselves that Elon Musk and others in Doge have access to their Social Security information, their bank account information, their their private. Um, identifying information, and we thought it was very appropriate to let them know that we are tracking that issue. We care too, we are going to act. And um sometimes as we prepare the litigation there's there's uh *** time period where that those assurances made to Americans who are concerned and worried and reaching out to us and asking us if if uh we're concerned too and if we're gonna help and if we're gonna act uh it's important to provide those assurances so uh yesterday was *** commitment to take appropriate action. And to defend the privacy rights of Americans who are rightfully concerned that Elon Musk and others have access to their private information when they they shouldn't and when it's unlawful to do so and today is *** full uh fulfillment of that promise keeping of *** promise and actual filing of the lawsuit in federal court in New York. Great, thank you for clarifying. Sure. Next question comes from Maya. You are now unmuted. Thank you. I was wondering, does this uh suit specifically target data sharing from the US Treasury Department, or is it broader than that and also, uh, in which jurisdiction did you file? This is about Dojas access to the US Treasury payment system, which is responsible for billions, trillions of dollars of payments directly to Americans, directly, you know, things like Social Security, uh, payments, Medicare payments, tax refunds, that's the individuals, and also uh payments directly to states, things like public safety grants, uh, child care, um, healthcare, uh, payments, infrastructure payments, FEMA payments to states, so, um. It is how trillions of dollars are paid every year, um, and *** lot of sensitive information is held there, so it's the Department of Treasury's payment system that we're focused on and Doge's access there too. We filed in the United States District Court of the Southern District of New York. And I think that's it for questions. Thanks everybody. I know it's Fast and Furious. Thanks for joining us. Short notice, always appreciate your participation. Thanks for your questions today and your presence.
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Federal judge blocks Elon Musk's DOGE from accessing sensitive US Treasury Department material

The case alleges the Trump administration allowed Musk's team access to the Treasury Department's central payment system in violation of federal law

A federal judge 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.Related video above: California AG Bonta talks about effort to sue DOGEU.S. District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer issued the preliminary injunction after 19 Democratic attorneys general sued President Donald 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.The payment system handles tax refunds, Social Security benefits, veterans' benefits and much more, sending out trillions of dollars every year while containing an expansive network of Americans' personal and financial data.Engelmayer, who was appointed by President Barack Obama, also said anyone prohibited from having access to the sensitive information since Jan. 20 must immediately destroy all copies of material downloaded from Treasury Department systems.He set a hearing for Feb. 14.The White House previously did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit being filed.Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, also known as DOGE, 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.New York Attorney General Letitia James, whose office filed the lawsuit, said DOGE's access to the Treasury Department's data raises security problems and the possibility of an illegal freeze in federal funds."This unelected group, led by the world's richest man, is not authorized to have this information, and they explicitly sought this unauthorized access to illegally block payments that millions of Americans rely on, payments for health care, child care and other essential programs," James said in a video message released by her office Friday.James, a Democrat who has been one of Trump's chief antagonists, 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.Also on the lawsuit are Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin.The suit 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 U.S. 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."This decision failed to account for legal obligations to protect such data and ignored the privacy expectations of federal fund recipients," including states, veterans, retirees, and taxpayers, the lawsuit says.Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said it's not clear what DOGE is doing with the information in the Treasury systems."This is the largest data breach in American history," Tong said in a statement Friday. "DOGE is an unlawfully constituted band of renegade tech bros combing through confidential records, sensitive data and critical payment systems. What could go wrong?"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 looking for ways to suspend payments made by the U.S. Agency for International Development, which Trump and Musk are attempting to dismantle. The two people spoke with The Associated Press on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.Separately, Democratic lawmakers are seeking a Treasury Department investigation of DOGE's access to the government's payment system.Also, labor unions and advocacy groups have sued to block the payment system review over concerns about its legality. A judge in Washington on Thursday temporarily restricted access to two employees with "read only" privileges.Associated Press writer Dave Collins in Hartford, Connecticut, contributed to this report.

A federal judge 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.

Related video above: California AG Bonta talks about effort to sue DOGE

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U.S. District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer issued the preliminary injunction after 19 Democratic attorneys general sued President Donald 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.

The payment system handles tax refunds, Social Security benefits, veterans' benefits and much more, sending out trillions of dollars every year while containing an expansive network of Americans' personal and financial data.

Engelmayer, who was appointed by President Barack Obama, also said anyone prohibited from having access to the sensitive information since Jan. 20 must immediately destroy all copies of material downloaded from Treasury Department systems.

He set a hearing for Feb. 14.

The White House previously did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit being filed.

Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, also known as DOGE, 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.

New York Attorney General Letitia James, whose office filed the lawsuit, said DOGE's access to the Treasury Department's data raises security problems and the possibility of an illegal freeze in federal funds.

"This unelected group, led by the world's richest man, is not authorized to have this information, and they explicitly sought this unauthorized access to illegally block payments that millions of Americans rely on, payments for health care, child care and other essential programs," James said in a video message released by her office Friday.

James, a Democrat who has been one of Trump's chief antagonists, 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.

Also on the lawsuit are Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin.

The suit 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 U.S. 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.

"This decision failed to account for legal obligations to protect such data and ignored the privacy expectations of federal fund recipients," including states, veterans, retirees, and taxpayers, the lawsuit says.

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said it's not clear what DOGE is doing with the information in the Treasury systems.

"This is the largest data breach in American history," Tong said in a statement Friday. "DOGE is an unlawfully constituted band of renegade tech bros combing through confidential records, sensitive data and critical payment systems. What could go wrong?"

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 looking for ways to suspend payments made by the U.S. Agency for International Development, which Trump and Musk are attempting to dismantle. The two people spoke with The Associated Press on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.

Separately, Democratic lawmakers are seeking a Treasury Department investigation of DOGE's access to the government's payment system.

Also, labor unions and advocacy groups have sued to block the payment system review over concerns about its legality. A judge in Washington on Thursday temporarily restricted access to two employees with "read only" privileges.


Associated Press writer Dave Collins in Hartford, Connecticut, contributed to this report.