Coalition of States Again Wants DOGE Blocked From Treasury Data
A New York-led coalition of states filed an amended complaint against President Donald Trump and the Treasury Department on Friday, re-emphasizing the need to stop those without proper training and vetting from accessing personally identifiable information (PII) in Treasury data systems. This second complaint alleges violations of the Take Care Clause, the separation of powers doctrine and violations of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
The Treasury has installed "a hybrid team of employees” on behalf of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), who have “expanded access to the sensitive information contained in the Treasury systems and data” without following information security policies, “a failure that poses huge cybersecurity risks, including risks to the States and their residents that their information will be used and processed, unchecked, in a manner not permitted by federal law,” the complaint said.
It also said the DOGE-Treasury employees have implemented a system “to pause and potentially block disbursement of appropriated funds on ideological grounds,” which is “a marked departure from longstanding Treasury policy.”
These two actions have or will harm the states, as their confidential information has been put at risk “through shoddy and insufficient training, vetting, oversight, and hiring procedures,” the amended complaint said. The pause in funds will also cause the states “to outlay funds for federal programs in anticipation of reimbursement that will be at a minimum delayed, and possibly blocked, for entirely unlawful reasons.”
The amended complaint comes as the parties in case 25-01144 have gone back and forth on whether a preliminary injunction is necessary.
Trump and Treasury have asked the U.S. District Court for Southern New York to dissolve the states' complaint, claiming the government proved DOGE employees were vetted and trained appropriately (see 2505160055 and 2505020056). The states, however, claim an injunction will help protect PII from future employees who lack proper security training (see 2505150061 and 2503170041).