The Trump administration allegedly illegally granted billionaire Elon Musk access to the Treasury Department’s core payment system, which oversees millions of Americans’ Social Security benefits and tax returns, according to a federal lawsuit.
US President Donald Trump is being sued by 19 Democratic attorneys general to prevent Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from obtaining Treasury Department documents that include millions of Americans’ bank account details and sensitive personal information like Social Security.
The lawsuit, which was submitted on Friday to a federal court in New York City, claims that the Trump administration broke federal law by giving Musk’s group access to the Treasury Department’s main payment system.
In addition to processing tax refunds, Social Security payments, veterans’ benefits, and much more, the payment system manages a vast network of financial and personal information about Americans and disburses trillions of dollars annually.
A request for comment was not immediately answered by the White House.
The goal of Musk’s Department of federal Efficiency, or DOGE, is to identify and cut out federal spending that the Trump administration has determined is unnecessary.
While supporters have applauded the concept of limiting bloated government finances, DOGE’s access to Treasury documents and its examination of other government agencies have sparked considerable alarm among detractors over Musk’s growing power.
On his social media platform X, Musk has mocked critics of DOGE while claiming that it is saving taxpayers millions of dollars.
DOGE’s access to the Treasury Department’s data presents security issues and the potential for an unauthorized freezing of federal funding, according to New York Attorney General Letitia James, whose office brought the complaint.
“This unelected group, led by the world’s richest man, is not authorised to have this information, and they explicitly sought this unauthorised access to illegally block payments that millions of Americans rely on, payments for health care, child care, and other essential programmes,” James stated in a video message issued by her position.
According to James, a Democrat who has been one of Trump’s main opponents, the president cannot stop Congress-approved federal payments and does not have the authority to divulge Americans’ personal information to whoever he wants.
Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin are also parties to the complaint.
According to the lawsuit, DOGE’s access to Treasury records might impede on funds that Congress has already appropriated, going beyond the Treasury Department’s legislative jurisdiction.
The case further contends that the DOGE access is in violation of the separation of powers principle of the US Constitution and federal administrative law.
Additionally, it accuses Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent of altering the department’s long-standing policy to safeguard financial and personally identifiable information in order to grant Musk’s DOGE team access to its payment systems.
The lawsuit claims that “this decision ignored the privacy expectations of federal fund recipients,” such as states, taxpayers, veterans, and retirees, and “failed to account for legal obligations to protect such data.”
William Tong, the attorney general for Connecticut, stated that it is unclear what DOGE is doing with the data stored in the Treasury computers.
“Group of rebellious tech guys”
“This is the largest data breach in American history,” Tong declared in a statement.
“DOGE is an illegally formed group of rogue tech guys that sift through sensitive data, private documents, and vital payment networks. What might go wrong?
According to the Treasury Department, no changes are being made and the review’s goal is to evaluate the system’s integrity.
Two people with knowledge of the procedure said Musk’s team started their investigation by trying to find a way to halt payments from the US Agency for International Development, which Trump and Musk are trying to shut down.
Democrats are also requesting that the Treasury Department look into DOGE’s access to the government’s payment system.
Concerned about the legitimacy of the payments system review, advocacy organizations and labor unions have also filed a lawsuit to stop it. On Thursday, a judge in Washington temporarily granted two employees “read-only” access.
