Trump, Treasury Seek Dismissal of States' Privacy Suit Against DOGE
President Donald Trump and the Treasury Department argued Thursday that a judge's modification of a preliminary injunction against the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) signals a state-led lawsuit against the federal government's access to private information is deficient and should be dismissed.
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Trump and Treasury made their argument in documents filed at the U.S. District Court for Southern New York. The case has a New York-led coalition of states charging that DOGE and Elon Musk obtained unauthorized access to Americans' private information at the Treasury, violating the Privacy Act and E-Government Act.
The states asked Judge Jeannette Vargas to block DOGE and Musk from obtaining the data with an injunction, which she granted in February (see 2502070050).
However, the judge revised that injunction in May. The revision meant the federal government wouldn't need to obtain judicial approval to begin training employees to access the sensitive information (see 2505280033).
Trump argued Thursday the states' complaint against Musk and DOGE ignored the Treasury's "submissions regarding vetting, clearance, training, and mitigation procedures for the Treasury DOGE Team and, more importantly, the Court’s analysis and determination that such procedures are adequate."
Moreover, "the Court has expressly permitted Treasury to grant current and future Treasury DOGE Team members access to [Bureau of Financial Services] payment systems without the need for further court review," so "the States cannot establish an injury-in-fact going forward."
In addition, Trump and Treasury said the states failed to "state a claim under the Administrative Procedure Act," and their "separation of powers and Take Care Clause claims are repackaged versions of their failed statutory claims and should be dismissed."
Trump and Treasury ignored the states' amended complaint in case 25-01144, filed at the end of May. It re-emphasizes the alleged need to stop those without proper training and vetting from accessing personally identifiable information in Treasury data systems (see 2505270017).