A federal judge has blocked Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) from accessing personal financial data of millions of Americans held by the Treasury Department, according to court documents.
On Saturday, US District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer issued a preliminary injunction, which stops Musk and his team from accessing the records. He also ordered them to immediately destroy any copies they had obtained.
This ruling follows a lawsuit filed by 19 state attorneys general. They challenged the Trump administration’s decision to grant Doge, a cost-cutting initiative led by Musk, access to the Treasury’s records. The plaintiffs argued that granting this access to Musk, a “special government employee,” and to Doge, which is not an official government agency, violated federal law.
The White House, President Donald Trump, and Musk did not immediately comment on the ruling.
State attorneys general raise concerns over Treasury records security
On Friday, the Democratic state attorneys general filed a lawsuit against Trump, the Treasury Department, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
In his ruling, Engelmayer said that without immediate intervention, the states would suffer “irreparable” harm. He explained that this risk involved both the potential disclosure of sensitive and confidential information and the increased vulnerability to hacking.
The injunction prevents the defendants from granting access to Treasury Department records that contain personal or confidential information. It specifically restricts access to special government employees, political appointees, or anyone outside the department. Only civil servants, who need the information for their work at the Bureau of Fiscal Services and have passed background checks, are allowed access.
The judge also instructed that any individuals affected by these restrictions must destroy all copies of the records.
These conditions will remain in place until the next court hearing, scheduled for 14 February.
Musk, a prominent tech entrepreneur and billionaire, has been involved in major government changes during Trump’s second term. His Doge initiative has led to significant cuts at the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which distributes billions of dollars in aid worldwide.
