Government Agrees to Temporarily Restrict DOGE From Treasury Records
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) agreed to restrict the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) access to Department of the Treasury records after a coalition of federal unions and an advocacy group sued to block DOGE’s actions.
According to the order — issued by a federal judge Thursday after the DOJ reached an agreement with the plaintiffs — the Treasury “will not provide access to any payment record or payment system of records maintained by or within the Bureau of the Fiscal Service,” with the exception of two special Treasury employees who need access for their jobs. The order states that “access to payment records will be ‘read only,’” meaning they won’t be able to alter any records.
The lawsuit was filed Monday by the nonprofit consumer advocacy organization Public Citizen, on behalf of the American Federation of Government Employees, the Service Employees International Union and the Alliance for Retired Americans, after personnel from the Elon Musk-led DOGE requested sensitive personal and financial information of millions of people from the Treasury Department.
“The scale of the intrusion into individuals’ privacy is massive and unprecedented,” the lawsuit said. “People who must share information with the federal government should not be forced to share information with Elon Musk or his ‘DOGE.’ And federal law says they do not have to.”
The Treasury is one of a handful of federal agencies that DOGE is unlawfully attempting to gain access to, including the Department of Labor (DOL). A coalition of federal unions and Democracy Forward filed a similar lawsuit Wednesday to block DOGE from gaining access to sensitive DOL data and systems. In that case, the plaintiffs and the DOL reached a similar agreement to block DOGE access to data until a federal judge rules on a motion for a temporary restraining order Friday.
“We are outraged and alarmed that the Trump Administration has allowed so-called DOGE staff to violate the law and access millions of older Americans’ sensitive personal and financial data,” Richard Fiesta, executive director of the Alliance for Retired Americans, said in a statement. “Seniors are already the most vulnerable Americans to fraud and scams, with FBI data showing losses of $3.4 billion in 2023 alone. We urge the court to quickly act to stop this unlawful theft of our data.”