A federal judge in Washington declined to block employees of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from accessing Treasury systems holding sensitive personal data for millions of Americans, despite acknowledging privacy concerns. However, DOGE’s operations remain restricted by a separate court order in New York.
U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton, had previously limited DOGE’s work at the Treasury to two employees with read-only access, with the cooperation of the Trump administration. One of those employees later resigned following a controversy involving racist social media posts, but Musk indicated plans to rehire them.
While the plaintiffs, including retirees and union leaders, raised concerns about the potential exposure of sensitive information, Kollar-Kotelly found that these fears were “understandable and no doubt widely shared.” However, she ruled that they had not demonstrated an immediate risk of harm from the small team tasked with maintaining confidentiality.
“Merely asserting that the Treasury DOGE Team’s operations increase the risk of a catastrophic data breach or public disclosure of sensitive information… is not sufficient to support a preliminary injunction,” the judge wrote.
Though Kollar-Kotelly denied the request for a long-term block, she left the door open for plaintiffs to return with new evidence of imminent harm, stating she “would not hesitate” to grant a block if evidence of risky data sharing emerged.
Meanwhile, in Manhattan, a separate court order bars DOGE from Treasury systems following a lawsuit by 19 Democratic attorneys general.
