WASHINGTON. U.S. judge issued an emergency order on Saturday blocking Elon Musk’s government reform team from accessing millions of Americans’ personal and financial records stored at the Treasury Department.
US District Judge Paul A. Engelmeier’s order limited access to the Treasury Department’s payment system and other data to “all political appointees, special government employees and government employees from agencies outside the Treasury Department.”
The temporary restraining order, which is in effect until a Feb. 14 hearing, states that anyone who obtained data from Treasury Department records after President Donald Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration must immediately destroy any and all downloaded material.
Musk, the world’s richest man, is leading Trump’s federal cost-cutting efforts under the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), announced by President Trump.
The Republican president, the Department of the Treasury and Treasury Secretary Scott Besant were sued by 19 state attorneys general on Friday.
They accuse the administration of violating the law by giving Musk’s DOGE staff access to sensitive Treasury Department data.
The heads of Tesla, SpaceX and X are neither federal employees nor government officials, although US media reported earlier this month that Musk was registered as a “special government employee.” DOGE requires congressional approval to operate as a government department.
Musk and his team, Trump’s top donor and aide, have tried to freeze foreign aid programs through federal agencies, cut budgets and lay off hundreds of government employees in the first weeks of the new administration.