US Judge Refuses to Block Musk’s DOGE Visit to Treasury Department System

A federal judge in the Washington, D.C. district on Friday (March 7) ruled to reject a request from a non-profit organization and several federal employee unions to block the personnel of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) led by billionaire Elon Musk from accessing the Treasury Department system containing sensitive personal data of millions of Americans.

U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly rejected the request to block the Department of Government Efficiency from accessing the sensitive federal payment system of the Treasury Department, stating that the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate that if employees of the department accessed these payment systems, they would face irreparable harm. The judge therefore refused to issue a preliminary injunction based on the reason claimed by the plaintiffs.

In her ruling, Kollar-Kotelly wrote, “If the plaintiffs could prove that the defendants had plans to disclose their private information or share this information with individuals outside the federal government who are not obligated to keep it confidential, this court would not hesitate to find the possibility of irreparable harm.”

“But based on the current record, the plaintiffs have not proven that the defendants have such plans,” she continued.

The federal judge, appointed by former Democratic President Clinton, also lifted a previous order she issued that restricted Department of Government Efficiency employees’ access to a system within the Treasury Department responsible for handling 90% of federal payments.

In the previous order, Kollar-Kotelly permitted two employees of the Department of Government Efficiency to access the Treasury Department payment system in a read-only format.

In another lawsuit brought by Democratic attorneys general from 19 states, a federal judge in Manhattan ruled last month to prohibit the Department of Government Efficiency from accessing the data and payment systems of the Treasury Department.

In addition to prohibiting the Department of Government Efficiency from accessing Treasury Department data, in a series of legal disputes, some courts have also ruled to prevent Musk’s team from accessing data from the Department of Education, the Department of Labor, and the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. The Department of Government Efficiency’s authority to access IRS data has also faced legal challenges.