NEW YORK — A coalition of Democratic state attorneys general has taken legal action against former President Donald Trump and the Treasury Department. On Friday, they filed a lawsuit accusing them of violating federal law by granting access to a sensitive federal payments database to aides of Elon Musk.
The lawsuit is the latest in a series of legal challenges against Trump's early policies. Previously, coalitions of states have successfully halted his orders to end birthright citizenship and freeze federal funding.
Filed in a federal court in Manhattan, the lawsuit claims that providing access to Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) staffers compromises billions in grants, health insurance payments, and tax refunds. Furthermore, the states argue that this access could lead to public exposure of confidential recipient information.
“Musk and DOGE have no authority to access Americans’ private information and some of our country’s most sensitive data,” New York Attorney General Letitia James, who leads the lawsuit, emphasized. “I am taking action to keep our information secure.”
The lawsuit aims to prevent "political appointees, special government employees, and any government employee detailed from an agency outside the Treasury Department" from accessing payment data. It also demands that any individuals who have already been granted access return the information.
Currently, it remains unclear how many DOGE members have access to the payment data. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, also a defendant in the suit, mentioned that only two DOGE members have limited "read-only" access.
Complicating matters further, Marko Elez, one of the DOGE members with access, resigned after a Wall Street Journal report on offensive social media posts. However, Musk has stated that Elez will be rehired.
A White House spokesperson responded to the legal challenge by criticizing the Democrats. “Instead of working to become a party that focuses on the will of the people, they are hell-bent on keeping their heads in the sand and gaslighting on the widely supported mission of DOGE,” stated Harrison Fields, White House principal deputy press secretary.
The lawsuit is supported by attorneys general from Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin.
Letitia James has a history of legal confrontations with Trump, having sued him multiple times during his presidency, which resulted in a civil fraud case victory. Trump has often criticized James, labeling her as “incompetent.”
In a related development on Monday, two labor unions also filed a lawsuit against the Treasury Department. They made similar allegations regarding unauthorized access to the payment database. Both parties agreed to restrict access to regular Treasury employees and two temporary DOGE staffers, Elez and Tom Krause, until the court addresses the unions’ request for longer-term relief.
