Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) was hit with a major setback after a federal judge stopped it from accessing sensitive data of the Treasury Department.
According to BBC, US District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer on Saturday, February 8, 2025, blocked DOGE from accessing the personal financial data of millions of Americans.
In a preliminary order, the district judge asked the Tesla owner and his Doge team to immediately destroy copies of any personal financial data of citizens and prohibited further access to the Treasury Department records.
The order read, “That is both because of the risk that the new policy presents of the disclosure of sensitive and confidential information and the heightened risk that the systems in question will be more vulnerable than before to hacking.”
The order came after 19 state attorneys general sued the Trump administration after Musk’, a “special government employee,” and Doge, an unofficial government department, were given access to treasury data, violating federal law.
The Democratic state attorneys general sued Trump, the Treasury Department and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Friday, February 7, 2025.
Notably, the court order restricts the Trump administration from sharing confidential data and information with special government employees, political appointees, and other employees from outside the department.
