Attorney General Ellison stops Elon Musk and DOGE from accessing Americans’ private information and cutting federal funds through the Treasury
Ellison wins preliminary injunction barring Musk and DOGE from Treasury payment system while lawsuit proceeds
February 21, 2025 (SAINT PAUL) — Today, Attorney General Keith Ellison released the following statement after a federal court granted his motion for a preliminary injunction to stop Elon Musk and employees of his so-called “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) from having unauthorized access to Americans’ private information:
“Today, my fellow attorneys general and I blocked the world’s richest man and his cronies from accessing sensitive, private, and heavily restricted data on the American people. We also made sure Musk cannot weaponize the Treasury Department’s central payment against the American people. Let this victory stand as proof that it’s possible to stand up to bullies and win.”
“We will continue our fight to make these restrictions permanent and prevent this unelected, unaccountable billionaire from using the Treasury’s central payment system to cause further damage.”
On February 7, Attorney General Ellison and a coalition of 18 other attorneys general filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration to stop the unauthorized access to Americans’ private information. Attorney General Ellison’s lawsuit asserts that the Trump administration illegally provided Elon Musk and DOGE unauthorized access to the Treasury Department’s central payment system, and therefore to individual Americans’ and states’ sensitive information, including social security numbers and bank account information.
On the morning of February 8, a federal judge in the Southern District of New York granted Attorney General Ellison's motion for a temporary restraining order (TRO) blocking the Trump Administration from granting DOGE access to Americans’ most sensitive personal information and ordering them to immediately destroy any and all copies of records they had already obtained.
Today, Judge Jeannette Vargas of the Southern District of New York granted Attorney General Ellison and the coalition’s motion for a preliminary injunction, barring the government from allowing unauthorized government employees like Elon Musk and DOGE to access the Treasury’s central payment system while the coalition’s lawsuit proceeds.
Joining Attorney General Ellison in this lawsuit are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin.
