DOGE employees may access sensitive Treasury data, judge rules
A federal judge in New York cleared a path Tuesday for the Treasury Department’s DOGE team to access data systems that contain sensitive financial information on millions of Americans, stating in her ruling that the Trump administration had complied with earlier requests to demonstrate it is equipped to properly screen and train employees before granting them access.
U.S. District Judge Jeannette A. Vargas’ ruling allows four U.S. DOGE Service employees at the Treasury Department to access the infrastructure, and opens a path for other employees of Elon Musk’s DOGE team to be granted access without judicial approval so long as they undergo training and vetting procedures.
“There is little utility in having this Court function as Treasury’s de facto human resources officer each time a new team member is onboarded,” Vargas wrote in court documents filed Tuesday.
In February, a coalition of 19 state attorneys general, including Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, sued the Trump administration over DOGE’s activities at Treasury. A federal judge issued an emergency order prohibiting DOGE employees from accessing the data, noting the possibility for irreparable harm. (Treasury’s payment system is known to contain social security numbers, home addresses and bank account information.)
Later that month, Vargas upheld the ban, stating that there was a public interest in protecting personal and banking information housed at the department’s Bureau of Fiscal Service, where systems are generally only used by a small number of civil servants.
She gave the Trump administration a chance to alleviate her concerns by providing evidence of efforts to safeguard that data by March 24. She asked for details on what training DOGE members at Treasury have or will have on handling sensitive data; what security clearances they have or will receive; as well as a rundown of the chain of command for DOGE employees assigned to the department.
“Taking the time to adequately mitigate potential security concerns and properly onboard members to engage in this work outweighs the Defendants’ immediate need to access and redevelop Treasury systems,” Vargas wrote at the time.
In April, Vargas modified her order to grant access to a single DOGE staffer at Treasury who received the same vetting and training as other Treasury employees. On Tuesday, she granted access to three more DOGE employees, stating that they had undergone similar processes and mitigation procedures.
DOGE — which stands for the Department of Government Efficiency — has faced several lawsuits over its attempts to access sensitive and classified records at various government agencies, as well as over Musk’s unprecedented influence in the government as a temporary employee of the White House who has not been confirmed or vetted by Congress.
DOGE employees have either accessed or shown interest in sensitive data systems at the IRS, the Social Security Administration and the Department of Health and Human Services. DOGE representatives have also sought access to a powerful database of nearly all U.S. workers’ earnings kept by the health department’s child support office, The Washington Post reported in March.
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Shayna Jacobs contributed.