Judge blocks Musk's department's access to US government payment systems.
The lawsuit claimed that Musk and his team could jeopardize federal funding for health clinics, preschools, climate initiatives, and other programs.
February 8 (Reuters) - A federal judge temporarily blocked billionaire Elon Musk's government efficiency team and Trump administration political appointees from accessing government systems used to process trillions of dollars in payments on Saturday morning, citing the risk that sensitive information could be improperly disclosed.
U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer in Manhattan issued the order after a coalition of 19 U.S. states, mostly led by Democrats, filed a lawsuit Friday night arguing that Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) lacks the legal authority to access the U.S. Treasury Department's systems.
The lawsuit claimed that Musk and his team could undermine federal funding for health clinics, preschools, climate initiatives, and other programs, and that Republican President Donald Trump could use the information to advance his political agenda.
DOGE's access to the system also "poses enormous cybersecurity risks that jeopardize large amounts of funding for the states and their residents," the states' attorneys general said. They requested a temporary restraining order blocking DOGE's access.
The judge, appointed by former Democratic President Barack Obama, said the states' claims were "particularly strong" and justified his action based on their request for emergency relief while awaiting a new hearing before another judge on February 14.
"This is due both to the risk that the new policy presents of disclosing sensitive and confidential information and to the increased risk that the systems in question will become more vulnerable to hacker attacks," Engelmayer wrote.
New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat whose office is leading the case, welcomed the decision, saying that no one is above the law and that Americans across the country were horrified by the DOGE team's unrestricted access to their data.
"We learned that the Trump administration's choice to grant this access to unauthorized individuals was illegal, and this morning, a federal court agreed," James said in a statement.
"Now, Americans can be confident that Musk – the world's richest man – and his friends will not have complete control over their personal information while our legal action proceeds."
Engelmayer's order prevents access to the Treasury Department's payment systems and data from being granted to political appointees, special government officials, and government employees seconded from agencies outside the Treasury Department.
The judge also ordered that anyone prohibited under his order from accessing these systems immediately destroy everything they copied or downloaded.
The White House and the Treasury Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Trump delegated leadership of DOGE to Musk to identify fraud and waste in the government. Musk's efforts have alarmed Democrats and advocacy groups who claim he is overstepping his authority by attempting to dismantle agencies responsible for critical government programs and lay off federal employees en masse.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, a Trump appointee, said this week that the department's payment system will not be touched by Musk and that any decisions to halt payments would be made by other agencies.
