Musk’s Access to Sensitive Treasury Information Cut Off

According to the Guardian, a federal judge on Saturday morning blocked Musk’s newly created Office of Government Efficiency from accessing sensitive and confidential Treasury Department data.

U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer issued the preliminary injunction after 19 Democratic attorneys general sued President Donald Trump. According to the lawsuit filed in federal court in New York, the Trump administration has granted Musk’s team access to the Treasury Department’s central payment system, which is essentially a violation of federal law.

The payment system is said to include tax refunds, Social Security benefits, veterans’ benefits and many other things, and trillions of dollars are paid out through it every year, and contains the personal and financial data of millions of Americans.

Engelmayer, a judge appointed by former US President Barack Obama, has ruled that anyone who has accessed the information since January 20, the day Trump was inaugurated, must be blocked from accessing it and that all downloaded copies must be destroyed immediately.

New York Attorney General Letitia James, whose office filed the lawsuit, said: “The Office of Government Efficiency’s access to Treasury Department data raises security concerns and the potential for unlawful withholding of federal funds.”

In a video message, she added: “This unelected group, led by the richest man in the world, is not authorized to access this information. They were clearly seeking unlawful access to payments that millions of Americans need.”

As a Democratic prosecutor and a key Trump opponent, the prosecutor has stressed that the US president does not have the authority to give anyone access to Americans’ private information.