19 States File Lawsuit Against Trump, Treasury to Block Access to DOGE
New York has initiated a lawsuit in federal court in Manhattan, claiming that highly sensitive data is at risk.
TroibNews 
NEW YORK — On Friday, Democratic state attorneys general intensified their legal opposition to President Donald Trump’s early policies by filing a new lawsuit that accuses Trump and the Treasury Department of violating federal law. The lawsuit claims they improperly granted staffers from Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) access to a sensitive federal payments database.
Several states have already challenged Trump's orders aimed at ending birthright citizenship and freezing federal funding, both of which have been halted by the courts.
The latest lawsuit, submitted in federal court in Manhattan, contends that allowing Musk’s aides to access the database jeopardizes billions of dollars in grants, health insurance payments, and tax refunds that states and their residents receive annually. The states further argue that this access raises the risk of confidential information about payment recipients being disclosed publicly.
“Musk and DOGE have no authority to access Americans’ private information and some of our country’s most sensitive data,” stated New York Attorney General Letitia James, who is spearheading the complaint. “I am taking action to keep our information secure.”
The lawsuit aims to prohibit “political appointees, special government employees, and any government employee detailed from an agency outside the Treasury Department” from accessing payment data. It also seeks to require any individuals who have been granted access to return the information.
Currently, it is unclear how many DOGE members have access to the payment data.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, identified as a defendant in the lawsuit, informed Bloomberg News on Thursday that only two DOGE members had been granted access to the payments database, and that their access was limited to "read-only" viewing of the data. His comments came before Marko Elez, one of the DOGE members with access, resigned after a Wall Street Journal report revealed racist messages he had shared on social media. Musk indicated on Friday that Elez would be rehired.
When asked about the forthcoming legal action, a White House spokesperson highlighted the Democratic Party's significant election losses in November and noted a lack of a strategic response.
“Instead of working to become a party that focuses on the will of the people, they are hell-bent on keeping their heads in the sand and gaslighting on the widely supported mission of DOGE,” said Harrison Fields, White House principal deputy press secretary. “Slashing waste, fraud, and abuse, and becoming better stewards of the American taxpayer’s hard-earned dollars might be a crime to Democrats, but it’s not a crime in a court of law.”
Joining James in the lawsuit are the attorneys general from Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin.
James has established herself as a prominent critic of Trump, having sued him numerous times during his first term and winning a civil fraud case. Trump, in turn, has described her as “incompetent” over the years.
On Monday, two labor unions also filed a lawsuit against the Treasury Department, making similar claims regarding unauthorized or illegal access to the payment database. Both parties in that case agreed to an order that restricts access to regular Treasury employees as well as two temporary staff members working on the DOGE initiative, Elez and Tom Krause, until the unions' request for longer-term relief is addressed by the court.
Ramin Sohrabi contributed to this report for TROIB News
Several states have already challenged Trump's orders aimed at ending birthright citizenship and freezing federal funding, both of which have been halted by the courts.
The latest lawsuit, submitted in federal court in Manhattan, contends that allowing Musk’s aides to access the database jeopardizes billions of dollars in grants, health insurance payments, and tax refunds that states and their residents receive annually. The states further argue that this access raises the risk of confidential information about payment recipients being disclosed publicly.
“Musk and DOGE have no authority to access Americans’ private information and some of our country’s most sensitive data,” stated New York Attorney General Letitia James, who is spearheading the complaint. “I am taking action to keep our information secure.”
The lawsuit aims to prohibit “political appointees, special government employees, and any government employee detailed from an agency outside the Treasury Department” from accessing payment data. It also seeks to require any individuals who have been granted access to return the information.
Currently, it is unclear how many DOGE members have access to the payment data.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, identified as a defendant in the lawsuit, informed Bloomberg News on Thursday that only two DOGE members had been granted access to the payments database, and that their access was limited to "read-only" viewing of the data. His comments came before Marko Elez, one of the DOGE members with access, resigned after a Wall Street Journal report revealed racist messages he had shared on social media. Musk indicated on Friday that Elez would be rehired.
When asked about the forthcoming legal action, a White House spokesperson highlighted the Democratic Party's significant election losses in November and noted a lack of a strategic response.
“Instead of working to become a party that focuses on the will of the people, they are hell-bent on keeping their heads in the sand and gaslighting on the widely supported mission of DOGE,” said Harrison Fields, White House principal deputy press secretary. “Slashing waste, fraud, and abuse, and becoming better stewards of the American taxpayer’s hard-earned dollars might be a crime to Democrats, but it’s not a crime in a court of law.”
Joining James in the lawsuit are the attorneys general from Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin.
James has established herself as a prominent critic of Trump, having sued him numerous times during his first term and winning a civil fraud case. Trump, in turn, has described her as “incompetent” over the years.
On Monday, two labor unions also filed a lawsuit against the Treasury Department, making similar claims regarding unauthorized or illegal access to the payment database. Both parties in that case agreed to an order that restricts access to regular Treasury employees as well as two temporary staff members working on the DOGE initiative, Elez and Tom Krause, until the unions' request for longer-term relief is addressed by the court.
Ramin Sohrabi contributed to this report for TROIB News
