(CNN) — A federal judge, citing a risk of 鈥渋rreparable harm,鈥� has temporarily restricted Elon Musk鈥檚 government efficiency team from accessing a critical Treasury Department payment system.
The judge鈥檚 order, issued early Saturday, temporarily halts access to a sensitive that distributes Americans鈥� tax returns, Social Security benefits, disability payments and federal employees鈥� salaries.
US District Judge Paul Engelmayer ordered the destruction of any downloaded information from the payment system by anyone given access to it since January 20, citing 鈥渢he risk that the new policy presents of the disclosure of sensitive and confidential information and the heightened risk that the systems in question will be more vulnerable than before to hacking.鈥�
A hearing on the matter was set for February 14.
The White House called Saturday鈥檚 order 鈥渏udicial overreach.鈥�
鈥淕randstanding government efficiency speaks volumes about those who鈥檇 rather delay much-needed change with legal shenanigans than work with the Trump Administration of ridding the government of waste, fraud, and abuse,鈥� White House spokesperson Harrison Fields told CNN in a statement.
Engelmayer鈥檚 ruling was in response to a suit filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James and 18 other state attorneys general against the Trump administration.
Trump and Musk have in their quest to shrink the government, sparking chaos, fear, anger 鈥� and multiple lawsuits that have prompted judicial action.
Musk also offered a defense of the access in a Saturday, saying that DOGE and the Treasury Department 鈥渏ointly agreed鈥� to requirements involving government payments, including that 鈥渁ll outgoing government payments have a payment categorization code, which is necessary in order to pass financial audits.鈥�
鈥淭he above super obvious and necessary changes are being implemented by existing, long-time career government employees, not anyone from @DOGE. It is ridiculous that these changes didn鈥檛 exist already!鈥� Musk added.
Saturday鈥檚 order came on the heels of another court ruling temporarily blocking the administration鈥檚 attempts to dismantle the US Agency for International Development.
And a federal judge for the administration鈥檚 so-called buyout offer to federal employees while more proceedings on the program鈥檚 legality played out. That followed earlier federal court rulings a sweeping federal spending freeze.
The suit from the attorneys general alleges the team led by Musk and staffed by young associates categorized as 鈥渟pecial government employees鈥� have been unlawfully granted access to the Treasury system that previously was restricted to specific government employees.
The effort by what the Trump administration calls the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, is intended to cut government costs drastically but has sought access to critical computer systems, including the Treasury payment system, at the objection of others in the agencies, as .
DOGE鈥檚 actions have ignited a tense political debate and emergency court proceedings over its access to the system and the administration鈥檚 potential interest in using it to turn off payments as it chooses.
鈥淭he conduct of Doge members presents a unique security risk to the States and State residents whose data is held,鈥� the lawsuit said.
The payment system offers services for more than 250 federal agencies and is the conduit for an extraordinary swath of critical individual payments. It is central to the operations of the US government and the lives of millions of Americans.
The administration鈥檚 efforts have drawn the wrath of Democratic senators as well as unions and protestors concerned about Musk鈥檚 incursion into the private data of US citizens.
Musk and his DOGE team have sought to disrupt or gain access to a number of government nerve centers, including those responsible for the federal workforce, real estate portfolio, computer systems and records management.
The Trump administration鈥檚 first moves to upend the federal government were felt most acutely at USAID, after the president on most foreign aid.
In the separate court decision late Friday involving USAID, another to put at least 2,200 employees at the agency on administrative leave and required the temporary reinstatement of 500 other workers who had been suspended.
This story has been updated with additional information.
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2025 Cable 太子探花 Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
