The lawsuit claims that the treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, violated federal privacy laws by giving Mr Musk’s team full access to the Bureau of the Fiscal Service’s confidential payment systems.
Led by the richest man in the world, Elon Musk has vowed to crack down on American federal departments, saying he is looking for ways to improve efficiency and streamline services with an overall aim to slash federal spending.
Mr Musk is now officially deemed to be a "special government employee” – an official government term.
The US government department headed up by Elon Musk It is a new public body, and a controversial one.
As well as treasury access, the department took aim at the US Agency for International Development, which was formerly a department that provided humanitarian aid to more than 100 countries, saying the spending being done there was “wasteful”.
