Federal judge blocks DOGE from accessing sensitive Treasury records

A national justice temporarily blocked Elon Musk’s DOGE from accessing Treasury Department records containing idiosyncratic accusation similar Social Security numbers aboriginal this morning, reports Inner City Press.

The order is successful effect to a lawsuit filed yesterday successful New York’s Southern District Court. The suit alleges that the medication exceeded its authority, broke the US Administrative Procedures Act, and violated the US Constitution’s separation of powers doctrine erstwhile it granted DOGE access to the Treasury’s national payments system.

District Judge Paul A. Engelmeyer’s bid present prohibits the Trump medication ”from granting entree to each governmental appointees, peculiar authorities employees, and authorities employees elaborate from an bureau extracurricular the Treasury Department, to immoderate Treasury Department outgo record, outgo systems, oregon immoderate different information systems maintained by the Treasury Department containing personally identifiable accusation and/or confidential fiscal accusation of payees.”

Engelmeyer besides orders that those prohibited from accessing the records indispensable “immediately destruct immoderate and each copies of worldly downloaded from the Treasury Department’s records and systems” since January 20th, 2025. A proceeding is scheduled for February 14th.

In a press release announcing the suit Friday, New York Attorney General Letitia James, who filed the lawsuit, explained:

President Trump does not person the powerfulness to springiness distant Americans’ backstage accusation to anyone helium chooses, and helium cannot chopped national payments approved by Congress. Musk and DOGE person nary authorization to entree Americans’ backstage accusation and immoderate of our country’s astir delicate data.

Attorneys General from these different states joined James successful the lawsuit: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin.

The suit is 1 of respective levied against Trump’s medication since helium took office, including a abstracted 1 implicit DOGE’s entree to Treasury records filed connected February 3rd. Responding to different ineligible action, federal judges person besides blocked Trump’s enforcement bid targeting birthright citizenship, with 1 calling it “blatantly unconstitutional.”