A federal judge has temporarily blocked political appointees and special government employees, including those from the Department of Government Efficiency, from accessing sensitive and confidential information stored within the Treasury Department. This decision came after 19 state attorneys general filed a lawsuit alleging that tech mogul Elon Musk and his DOGE colleagues had no authority to access this data, which includes Americans’ social security numbers and confidential financial information. U.S. District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer issued a restraining order to prevent access to this data and to require the destruction of any downloaded material. A hearing is set for February 14 to discuss the attorneys general’s request for a preliminary injunction. The White House and the Department of Justice have not commented on the matter. In a separate case in Washington, union members and retirees sued the government for violating federal privacy laws by allowing DOGE employees to access Treasury Department data. The Trump administration agreed to restrict access to only two DOGE employees, with “read-only” permissions. One of these employees, Marko Elez, resigned after being linked to a now-defunct social media account with racist and eugenic views. Despite Vice President JD Vance defending Elez, Musk promised to reinstate him at DOGE.
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