Elon Musk in Los Angeles in 2024Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File
A federal judge on Saturday temporarily blocked Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency ( DOGE ) from looking at the Treasury Department’s payment and data systems, citing a risk of “irreparable harm” because the systems contain some of the federal government’s most sensitive information, including bank account details.
US District Judge Paul Engelmayer gave Musk and his team an urgent order to “destroy any and all editions of material” that was saved from the Treasury techniques after the Trump administration gave them access next weekend. The judge argued that because Musk was not elected, and DOGE currently employs several young female software engineers, it could be possible for the Treasury data to be compromised and leaked.
New York Attorney General Letitia James and 18 other lawyers public filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration on Friday following Engelmayer’s purchase. When President Donald Trump gave Musk’s team “virtually unfettered access” to the Treasury information and payment methods, which are used to distribute Social Security benefits, soldiers ‘ benefits, and federal employee wages, they claimed they had violated the Constitution and “failed to faithfully do the laws enacted by Congress.” This meant that millions of Americans could obtain personal information contained in these systems.
The “world’s richest person has been stopped from stealing your data”, New Jersey’s attorney general, Matthew Platkin, said in a Saturday. According to a statement from New York’s James,” President Trump does not have the right to disclose Americans ‘ personal information to anyone he chooses, and he cannot cut provincial payments that have been approved by Congress.”
The Trump administration responded to the complaint danger on Thursday by saying that Musk and his team had never violated the law by scouring Treasury records. ” Slashing waste, fraud and abuse, and becoming better managers of the American citizen’s hard-earned money may be a crime to Democrats, but it’s not a crime in a court of law”, said Harrison Fields, a Trump director.
It remains to be seen whether Trump, who has a history of ignoring court orders and the Constitution, respects the court’s temporary order in this case. It’s unclear how the emergency order may be enforced if the management doesn’t follow the New York Times investigators ‘ recommendations on Saturday.
” I’ve said before, and I’ll say it again”, James wrote in a , urging Musk and his crew to honor the order. ” No one is above the law”.
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