The suit urges the court to immediately enjoin the Department of Government Efficiency’s access to the financial information of millions of Americans.

The Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, D.C., where the office of the Department of Government Efficiency is located. (Ingfbruno, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0)
A pair of labor unions and an advocacy group representing retirees sued the U.S. Treasury Department on Monday in an effort to halt Elon Musk’s team’s dangerous access to a critical government payment system — access granted by U.S. President Donald Trump’s handpicked Treasury chief.
In a lawsuit filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the Alliance for Retired Americans, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) said they’re seeking to stop the Trump Treasury Department’s “unlawful, ongoing, systematic, and continuous disclosure of personal and financial information” to Musk and members of his so-called Department of Government Efficiency( DOGE).
“The scale of the intrusion into individuals’ privacy is massive and unprecedented,” the complaint states. “Millions of people cannot avoid engaging in financial transactions with the federal government and, therefore, cannot avoid having their sensitive personal and financial information maintained in government records.”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s decision last week to give DOGE “full, continuous, and ongoing access to that information for an unspecified period of time means that retirees, taxpayers, federal employees, companies, and other individuals from all walks of life have no assurance that their information will receive the protection that federal law affords,” the lawsuit adds.

Bessent in December 2024. (Senator Ted Cruz, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain)
The coalition urged the court to immediately enjoin the Treasury Department from “continuing to permit such access,” which has sparked calls for Bessent’s impeachment as observers characterize the Musk team’s infiltration of key federal agencies as a coup.
“It is disgraceful that the Trump administration has allowed unelected billionaires and their lackeys unfettered access to the personal and financial information of Americans,” AFGE National President Everett Kelley said in a statement Monday. “Together, we can stop this violation of American citizens’ privacy.”
Richard Fiesta, executive director of the Alliance for Retired Americans, said that “we are outraged and alarmed that the Trump administration has allowed so-called DOGE staff to violate the law and access millions of older Americans’ sensitive personal and financial data.”
“Seniors are already the most vulnerable Americans to fraud and scams, with F.B.I. data showing losses of $3.4 billion in 2023 alone,” Fiesta added. “We urge the court to quickly act to stop this unlawful theft of our data.”
The lawsuit was filed as Bessent reportedly assured Republican lawmakers behind closed doors that Musk and his cronies “do not have control over” the Treasury payment system overseen by the Bureau of the Fiscal Service.
But reporting out Tuesday morning suggests that’s not true. According to Wired, “a 25-year-old engineer named Marko Elez, who previously worked for two Elon Musk companies, has direct access to Treasury Department systems responsible for nearly all payments made by the U.S. government.”
Citing unnamed sources, Wired reported that “Elez’s privileges include the ability not just to read but to write code on two of the most sensitive systems in the U.S. government: The Payment Automation Manager (PAM) and Secure Payment System (SPS) at the Bureau of the Fiscal Service (BFS).”
Jake Johnson is a senior editor and staff writer for Common Dreams.
This article is from Common Dreams.
Views expressed in this article and may or may not reflect those of Consortium News.
My friends, Ill make the assumption I have at least one or two, boy do I have news for you.
I did not get the entire story, however,someone sent notices to CIA employeeswho got notified (this AM?). Do you wish to resign?
Things are about to get very interesting!
He’ll raid the free cheese caves before Fort Knox .
Cheese when hungry looks like gold .
Offshore tax havens where cabbage is kept .
The smell comes from himself just like kraut scent
He runs circles to find that odor only to chase his tail
We scents this but tis our big nose that fails ?
Where will Maga look for the Holy Grail ?
It’s in there somewhere , I heard the tale
He’s sure he will find it , if it could only just flail .
Its caked with feces like a cows tail
Only to get close then puke in a pail .
Grab your buckets , fire brigade , we’ll need them all , rush to the scene , no time to wail .