Unions sue Treasury over granting Musk, DOGE agents access to sensitive financial data

WASHINGTON (CN) — Several unions representing federal employees sued the Treasury Department on Monday for granting Elon Musk and non-government agents of his Department of Government Efficiency access to a sensitive system containing personal and financial information of millions of Americans.

The lawsuit comes after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent ousted the official in charge of the Bureau of the Fiscal Service over the weekend, the agency in charge of the systems that control the flow of over $6 trillion in the U.S. each year.

Tens of millions of Americans rely on those systems, which govern Social Security and Medicare benefits, salaries for federal personnel, payments to government contractors and grant recipients, tax refunds and thousands of other functions.

“The scale of the intrusion into individuals’ privacy is massive and unprecedented,” the unions said. “People who must share information with the federal government should not be forced to share information with Musk or his DOGE.”

The Alliance for Retired Americans, with the American Federation of Government Employees and the Service Employees International Union, brought the suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

The unions said that by granting Musk’s DOGE agents such access, Bessent violated federal laws that protect sensitive personal and financial information from “improper disclosure and misuse,” which includes a bar on disclosure to anyone without a “lawful or legitimate need” for the information.

David Lebryk, who was acting Treasury secretary before Bessent’s confirmation and served in nonpolitical roles at the Treasury for decades, had refused to grant access to Musk’s advocates before being placed on administrative leave and ultimately retiring on Friday.

The unions are asking the federal court to declare Bessent’s actions illegal, enjoin any continued access to the systems and require that any future disclosure adhere to the Privacy Act, the Internal Revenue Code and provide prior notice.

Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said in a statement that the lawsuit was an effort to protect the privacy rights of all Americans.

“It is disgraceful that the Trump administration has allowed unelected billionaires and their lackeys unfettered access to the personal and financial information of Americans,” Kelley said.

The unions said that Musk’s complete access to the disbursement systems and his suggestions that he has the authority to control disbursements at the Bureau are problematic, considering their members’ reliance on the systems and lack of other options to avoid such improper disclosures.

Monday’s lawsuit comes as Trump, at Musk’s suggestion, moved to dissolve the U.S. Agency for International Development, the agency responsible for providing billions of dollars in humanitarian aid overseas, after calling it a “criminal organization” on X, formerly Twitter, over the weekend.

The Trump administration removed two top security officials, John Voorhees and his deputy, on Saturday after they also refused to grant DOGE representatives access to restricted agencies at USAID.

USAID staffers were told in an email Sunday night that the agency’s headquarters in Washington would be closed Monday, sparking protests outside the building, which were attended by Democratic lawmakers such as Senators Chris Van Hollen and Brian Schatz, as well as Representatives Jamie Raskin and Ilhan Omar.

Musk’s quick and sweeping efforts to exert control over wide swaths of the federal government and its spending have been implemented in part via a team of non-governmental employees. Journalists, such as Wired Magazine, are working to identify members of Musk’s DOGE team, and they identified six individuals serving in key roles on Saturday.

The men — Akash Bobba, Edward Coristine, Luke Farritor, Gautier Cole Killian, Gavin Kliger and Ethan Shaotran — all aged between 19 and 24, are each young software engineers with little to no governmental experience, but they previously worked for Musk or other technology companies.

The unmasking efforts led acting U.S. Attorney for D.C. Edward Martin to offer his office’s support for Musk and DOGE, vowing in a post on X to “pursue any and all legal action against anyone who impedes your work or threatens your people.”

Martin, who has radically overhauled the U.S. Attorney’s Office in D.C. to adhere to Trump’s agenda — such as investigating prosecutors involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, cases — said that he and his office would protect DOGE workers “no matter what.”

“I recognize that some of the staff at DOGE has been targeted publicly,” Martin wrote in the letter to Musk. “At this time, I ask that you utilize me and my staff to assist in protecting the DOGE work and the DOGE workers. Any threats, confrontations or other actions in any way that impact their work may break numerous laws.”

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