Three federal employee unions filed a lawsuit against the US Treasury on Monday, seeking to block the department from sharing confidential data with Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency as concerns over privacy breaches escalate.
The lawsuit alleges Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent granted DOGE representatives access to sensitive systems at the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, which manages government accounting and payment systems, after removing a civil servant who had previously denied such access.
“The scale of the intrusion into individuals’ privacy is massive and unprecedented,” the complaint states, following recent reports of DOGE staff accessing classified areas at USAID headquarters. The legal challenge comes as DOGE faces scrutiny over plans to shut down USAID entirely.
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The Alliance for Retired Americans, whose members lost $3.4 billion to fraud in 2023, joined the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and Service Employees International Union (SEIU) in filing the suit in Washington, D.C. federal court.
“It is disgraceful that the Trump administration has allowed unelected billionaires and their lackeys unfettered access to the personal and financial information of Americans,” said AFGE National President Everett Kelley.
President Donald Trump responded to concerns about DOGE’s authority, saying: “Elon can’t do and won’t do anything without our approval. And we’ll give him the approval where appropriate; where it’s not appropriate, we won’t.”
Congressional Democrats plan to introduce legislation to restrict DOGE’s access to Treasury payment systems. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer described the situation as “an unelected shadow government is conducting a hostile takeover of the federal government.”
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