By Nate Raymond, Reuters
Elon Musk attends the inauguration ceremony for Donald Trump in the US Capitol Rotunda in Washington, DC. Photo: AFP / Kenny Holston / NY Times
A federal judge early Saturday temporarily blocked billionaire Elon Musk's government efficiency team and Trump administration political appointees from accessing government systems used to process trillions of dollars in payments, citing a risk that sensitive information could be improperly disclosed.
US District Judge Paul Engelmayer in Manhattan issued the order after a coalition of 19 mostly Democratic-led US states filed a lawsuit late Friday arguing Musk's Department of Government Efficiency has no legal power to access the US Department of Treasury systems.
The lawsuit said Musk and his team could disrupt federal funding for health clinics, preschools, climate initiatives, and other programs, and that Republican President Donald Trump could use the information to further his political agenda.
DOGE's access to the system also "poses huge cybersecurity risks that put vast amounts of funding for the States and their residents in peril," the state attorneys general said. They sought a temporary restraining order blocking DOGE's access.
The judge, an appointee of Democratic former President Barack Obama, said the states' claims were "particularly strong" and warranted him acting on their request for emergency relief pending a further hearing before another judge on 14 February.
"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," Engelmayer wrote.
His order bars access from being granted to Treasury Department payment and data systems by political appointees, special government employees and government employees detailed from an agency outside the Treasury Department.
The judge also directed that anyone prohibited under his order from accessing those systems to immediately destroy anything they copied or downloaded.
New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat whose office is leading the case, in a social media post said the order prevents Musk, the world's richest person, from accessing Americans' private data.
"I've said it before, and I'll say it again: no one is above the law," James wrote on Musk's social media platform X.
The White House and Treasury Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Trump deputized Musk to lead DOGE to identify fraud and waste in the government. Musk's efforts have alarmed Democrats and advocacy groups who say he is overstepping his authority by seeking to dismantle agencies responsible for critical government programs and fire federal workers en masse.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, a Trump appointee, said this week that the department's payment system will not be touched by Musk and that any decisions to stop payments would be made by other agencies.
- Reuters
