On Friday, 19 Democratic attorneys general, including New York Attorney General Letitia James, sued President Donald Trump on the grounds that Musk's “DOGE” team was composed of “political appointees” who should not have access to Treasury records handled by “civil servants” specially trained to protect sensitive information like Social Security and bank account numbers.
A federal judge is likely to quickly decide whether to grant Justice Department demands that Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency be allowed to immediately resume accessing Treasury Department records containing personal data for millions of Americans.
Judge Jeannette A. Vargas had ordered lawyers to meet and confer over any changes needed to an order issued early Saturday by another Manhattan judge that banned Musk’s team from accessing the records and to file written arguments if an agreement was not reached.
Late Monday, lawyers for the attorneys general responded to the Justice Department's claims, saying minor modifications to Englemayer's order might be necessary, but that the essence of it should remain intact to limit access to Treasury systems to career Treasury staff who have passed background checks and gotten security clearances.
Lawyers resumed filing their arguments late Monday, leaving it to the judge to rule on the federal government's request that access to the records be immediately restored on the grounds that it was unconstitutional to block Musk's work.
