Trump administration imposes restrictions on Musk's "DOGE"
Access to Treasury data will be restricted to just two employees from Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency. Read Full Article at RT.com.
TroibNews 
The US Justice Department's lawyers have agreed to a proposed order that would temporarily limit the access of the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to sensitive financial data from the Treasury Department.
This decision by the administration of President Donald Trump late on Wednesday was prompted by a lawsuit brought against the Treasury, alleging that it engaged in “unlawful action” by disclosing payment information and private data to DOGE, a group comprised of union members and retirees.
“The Defendants will not provide access to any payment record or payment system of records maintained by or within the Bureau of the Fiscal Service,” the proposed order stated.
There will be an exception for two special government employees associated with Musk at the Treasury—Tom Krause and Marko Elez. The order specifies that they would have access “as needed” to carry out their duties, but it will be “read only” access to payment records.
Krause is the former CEO of Cloud Software Group, while Elez, 25, has experience as an engineer at Musk’s X and SpaceX. Once US District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, who is overseeing the case, approves the order, these restrictions will remain until a hearing scheduled for February 24.
Earlier on Wednesday, Justice Department lawyer Bradley Humphreys strongly denied allegations that the Treasury was sharing personal information of US citizens. He emphasized that there are no plans for the special government employees at the agency to disclose any data to Musk or any external parties.
The DOGE, created under Trump’s administration and led by his ally Musk—who also serves as a special government employee—seeks to identify and eliminate wasteful spending in the US government. Musk has set ambitious goals, aiming to reduce the federal deficit by at least $1 trillion, which would necessitate daily cuts averaging $4 billion. In a recent post on X, Musk referred to DOGE as “the wood chipper for bureaucracy.”
Frederick R Cook contributed to this report for TROIB News
This decision by the administration of President Donald Trump late on Wednesday was prompted by a lawsuit brought against the Treasury, alleging that it engaged in “unlawful action” by disclosing payment information and private data to DOGE, a group comprised of union members and retirees.
“The Defendants will not provide access to any payment record or payment system of records maintained by or within the Bureau of the Fiscal Service,” the proposed order stated.
There will be an exception for two special government employees associated with Musk at the Treasury—Tom Krause and Marko Elez. The order specifies that they would have access “as needed” to carry out their duties, but it will be “read only” access to payment records.
Krause is the former CEO of Cloud Software Group, while Elez, 25, has experience as an engineer at Musk’s X and SpaceX. Once US District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, who is overseeing the case, approves the order, these restrictions will remain until a hearing scheduled for February 24.
Earlier on Wednesday, Justice Department lawyer Bradley Humphreys strongly denied allegations that the Treasury was sharing personal information of US citizens. He emphasized that there are no plans for the special government employees at the agency to disclose any data to Musk or any external parties.
The DOGE, created under Trump’s administration and led by his ally Musk—who also serves as a special government employee—seeks to identify and eliminate wasteful spending in the US government. Musk has set ambitious goals, aiming to reduce the federal deficit by at least $1 trillion, which would necessitate daily cuts averaging $4 billion. In a recent post on X, Musk referred to DOGE as “the wood chipper for bureaucracy.”
Frederick R Cook contributed to this report for TROIB News
