Judge Vargas partially lifted restrictions allowing a DOGE member access to Treasury data amid ongoing legal battles over privacy concerns.
A New York judge has partially lifted restrictions on Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), allowing one team member, Ryan Wunderly, to access sensitive Treasury Department information under specific conditions, the Associated Press reported on Saturday.
Newsweek reached out to Musk via email on Monday for comment.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on his first day back in office, officially creating DOGE to modernize « federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity. »
Despite its name, it is not a government agency created by an act of Congress but a task force that targets waste and fraud in the federal government.
Judge Jeannette A. Vargas ruled late Friday evening that Wunderly can access Treasury payment systems and records after completing required training and submitting a financial disclosure report.
The decision modifies a ban in response to a lawsuit filed in February by 19 Democratic state attorney’s generals, led by Letitia James of New York, who sued to block the Trump administration’s policy of allowing political appointees and « special government employees » who work with Musk’s DOGE to access the country’s most sensitive information, including Americans’ bank accounts and Social Security Administration (SSA) data.
Maryland federal judge Ellen Hollander imposed on March 20 a temporary restraining order to prevent DOGE from accessing sensitive systems within the SSA
Hollander left open the possibility that DOGE could regain access to SSA systems, but only after completing a required training and giving a « detailed explanation » for why they would need non-anonymized data.
