Union groups have taken legal action against the United States Treasury, accusing it of unlawfully granting Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (D.O.G.E) access to sensitive financial and personal information.
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), the nation’s largest union organization, filed a lawsuit in a Washington, DC, federal court on February 3.
The court document revealed that AFL-CIO sought to halt what it describes as an “ongoing, systematic, and continuous disclosure” of confidential data.
It argued that individuals required to share financial details with the government should not have their information exposed to Musk and D.O.G.E while stressing the scale of the privacy breach. The lawsuit follows reports that DOGE, a Trump administration task force led by Musk responsible with reducing federal workforce and regulations, gained access to crucial Treasury databases, including Social Security and Medicare payment systems.
According to reports, D.O.G.E’s ability to retrieve taxpayer data raises concerns over potential misuse, particularly regarding politically motivated interference in federal payments.
Senate Finance Committee Democrat Ron Wyden expressed alarm over the situation in a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, warning that unauthorized access could lead to disruptions in essential payment systems. Wyden stated that any politically driven tampering with these systems could have severe repercussions for the economy. The controversy has already led to significant fallout within the Treasury Department.
Meanwhile, Acting Deputy Secretary David Lebryk resigned from his post after more than three decades of service, reportedly in response to D.O.G.E’s request for access to the departments financial infrastructure. In a farewell letter to Treasury employees, Lebryk spoke about the critical role of the Fiscal Service in maintaining the stability of government operations and added that while much of its work goes unnoticed by the public, it remains crucial to the country’s functioning.
The D.O.G.E was established to reduce wasteful spending and eliminate unnecessary regulations, though its formal mission, as outlined in the executive order, is to modernize federal technology and software to improve government efficiency and productivity.
Announced by Donald Trump in November 2024 for his second term, the organization was initially set to be co-led by Vivek Ramaswamy alongside Musk, but Ramaswamy left before the task force’s launch.