A federal judge limited co-President Elon Musk and his army of teenage Department of Government Efficiency minions' access to the Treasury Department's payment systems Thursday in response to a group of unions’ lawsuit alleging that DOGE's access violated the Privacy Act of 1974.
U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly’s order said that Treasury Department employees will block Musk and other DOGE workers' access “to any payment record or payment system of records maintained by or within the Bureau of the Fiscal Service."
The order does, however, allow "read only" access of the payment systems to two “special government employees” who have ties to Musk: Tom Krause, the chief executive of Cloud Software Group Inc., and Marko Elez, a 25-year-old engineer who has worked for Musk-owned companies SpaceX and X. Krause and Elez were assigned to the Treasury Department through DOGE, and reportedly “passed government background checks and obtained the necessary security clearances,” The New York Times reported on Feb. 1.
The limit on access will remain in place until the judge hears arguments from the group of unions who sued as to why she should grant a more permanent injunction on allowing DOGE access.
Democrats and privacy experts have been up in arms that DOGE workers have been granted access to the Treasury’s payment system, which disburses trillions every year for Social Security payments, tax refunds, and government grants, among other things.
Democratic lawmakers introduced legislation Wednesday to formally block DOGE workers’ access to the Treasury payment system.
“Everyone should agree that making the government more efficient and more effective is a good thing. But DOGE’s scorched earth policies are dangerous and unlawful,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a speech on the Senate floor announcing a joint bill with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to block DOGE’s “special government employees” from accessing the payment system.
He added, “Our legislation would correct it. We're going to do anything and everything we can legislatively to try and get this done, and maybe at some point we'll get some help from the other side of the aisle if they see how bad DOGE’s actions are.”
The legislation is a good step that’s unlikely to pass, as Republicans control both chambers of Congress and Donald Trump is president. GOP lawmakers have defended Musk's access, and Trump is unlikely to do anything to stop his buddy Elon from his mission of destroying the federal government from within.
The lawsuit—filed by the Alliance for Retired Americans, the American Federation of Government Employees, and the Service Employees International Union—is the more likely avenue to block Musk's access
It alleges that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent illegally allowed DOGE workers access to the payment system, arguing the Privacy Act bars Bessent "from disclosing records on individuals to Mr. Musk, other individuals associated with DOGE, or any other person without the individual’s consent except in specified circumstances.”
Public Citizen, the nonprofit consumer advocacy organization which filed the lawsuit on behalf of the unions, celebrated the judge’s ruling.
“We’re pleased that the court acted quickly to put in safeguards to protect people’s personal information until the facts are sorted out,” attorney Nandan Joshi said in a news release. “Americans who rely on Social Security and similar programs should be able to trust their government to handle their sensitive information with the utmost care. No one should ever face having their personal information used for improper purposes without their consent, which is why we’ve brought this case.”
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