Musk Team’s Treasury Access Raises Security Anxieties, Despite Judge’s Ordered Halt

A national jury’s request to temporarily ban Elon Musk’s team from entering the Treasury Department’s payment systems raises a much bigger question: Does Elon Musk’s claim that the Department of Government Performance is creating a significant digital and national security risk?

The activities of Mr. Musk’s state cost-cutting work, U. S. District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer said in his attempt on Saturday, risk” the disclosure of sensitive and confidential information” and provide the Treasury’s systems “more susceptible than before to hacking”.

Security experts have been raising alarms about this threat over the past ten days as Mr. Musk’s strap of young coders demanded entry to the Treasury’s deepest systems. That entry was finally by Scott Bessent, the recently confirmed Treasury director.

There was no explanation of how their work would be secured, aside from obscure claims that the new employees at the Treasury’s entrance had received right certifications, and there was plenty of evidence that it would make it easier for Chinese and Russian intelligence services to target the Treasury’s systems.

19 attorneys general made the main argument in their request for a temporary restraining order to expel Mr. Musk’s employees from the Treasury systems. Additionally, Judge Engelmayer approved it on Saturday, limiting access to existing Treasury officials until a hearing next week in front of a different federal judge.

The government has maintained that Mr. Musk’s team has been limited to reviewing “read-only” data in the Treasury Department’s systems, though the administration is now placing appointees in positions where they could do much more.