‘Irreparable harm’: Judge blocks Elon Musk’s DOGE from Treasury data

Elon Musk has hit a huge roadblock in his controversial mission to dismantle US government agencies and scrutinise federal spending via DOGE.

Elon Musk has hit a major roadblock in his controversial mission to dismantle US government agencies and scrutinise federal spending via his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

In an emergency order overnight, US District Judge Paul A Engelmayer cut off DOGE from accessing personal and financial data stored at the Treasury Department, warning there was a risk of “irreparable harm”.

The temporary restrictive order, which will remain in effect until a hearing on February 14, limits access to the Treasury’s payment systems and “all political appointees, special government employees, and government employees detailed from an agency outside”.

Judge Engelmayer’s order also says any such person who has accessed data from the Treasury Department’s records since Donald Trump was inaugurated as president on January 20 must “immediately destroy any and all copies of material downloaded”.

Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has hit a major setback. Picture: Kevin Larmarque/Getty Images

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Mr Musk, the world’s richest person, has been charged with leading the US President’s federal cost-cutting efforts. The Treasury’s payments system, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and General Services Administration (GSA) are among the major chokepoints DOGE has sought to take control of.

The case was brought against Mr Trump, the Department of the Treasury and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Friday by Attorneys-General from 19 states.

The Attorneys-General alleged the administration violated the law by expanding access to sensitive Treasury data to staff from Mr Musk’s DOGE.

Protesters against DOGE and Mr Musk outside the US Capitol earlier this week. Picture: Drew Angerer/AFP

US President Donald Trump was also named in the lawsuit. Picture: Jim Watson

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The Tesla, SpaceX and X chief is neither a federal employee nor a government official, although US media reported this month that he had been registered as a “special government employee”.

DOGE does not enjoy full status as a government department, which would require approval by Congress.

But Mr Musk, a top Trump donor and ally, and his team have rampaged through federal agencies in the first weeks of the new administration, pausing foreign aid programs, slashing budgets and attempting to lay off scores of government workers.

Mr Trump “has allowed an unelected billionaire to infiltrate key federal agencies and systems that store Social Security numbers, banking information, and other extremely sensitive data for millions of people”, New Jersey Attorney-General Matthew Platkin said.

The President ‘has allowed an unelected billionaire to infiltrate key federal agencies and systems’. Picture: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images/AFP

Judge Engelmayer’s order said the states that sued would “face irreparable harm in the absence of injunctive relief”.

“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,” he wrote.

Mr Musk ran into controversy last week with reports he and his team were accessing sensitive data stored at the Treasury Department.

An internal assessment from the Treasury called the DOGE team’s access to federal payment systems “the single biggest insider threat the Bureau of the Fiscal Service (BFS) has ever faced,” US media reported.

The lawsuit from states including New York and California alleged that the Trump administration granted “virtually unfettered access” to BFS payment systems to “at least one 25-year-old DOGE associate” who had the “authority to view or modify numerous critical files”.

That access “poses huge cybersecurity risks, including risks to states and states’ residents that their information will be used and processed, unchecked, in a manner not permitted by federal law”, the lawsuit filed in the US District Court in Manhattan said.

Originally published as ‘Irreparable harm’: Judge blocks Elon Musk’s DOGE from Treasury data