Letitia James of New York and 11 other state attorneys general said Thursday that they would sue over a cost-cutting initiative that had afforded young aides to Elon Musk broad access to the federal government’s most fundamental computer systems.
President Trump’s administration calls the program the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, though it is merely a unit within the executive branch, and its work has shaken Washington as its workers demand access to vast networks of sensitive information. Mr. Musk and his staff’s ability to access that information, including bank account and Social Security data, is “unlawful,” the attorneys general said in a news release.
“The president does not have the power to give away our private information to anyone he chooses, and he cannot cut federal payments approved by Congress,” the statement said. “His level of access for unauthorized individuals is unlawful, unprecedented and unacceptable.”
Press officials for the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Thursday’s move was made in concert with the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, Rhode Island, Vermont. It is Ms. James’s most recent effort to counteract parts of Mr. Trump’s sweeping agenda.
Her office, along with a coalition of 18 states, challenged Mr. Trump’s executive order attempting to end birthright citizenship. This week, she warned New York hospitals that complying with a White House executive order seeking to end gender-affirming medical care for young people could violate state law.
Ms. James is herself a target of a newly formed Weaponization Working Group in the Justice Department, which was announced in a memo this week by Attorney General Pam Bondi. Mr. Trump was found liable and ordered to pay a penalty of more than $450 million after Ms. James sued him for inflating the value of his real estate portfolio.
The legal drive she is spearheading is happening simultaneously with resistance from workers across the federal government. On Tuesday, three unions sued the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, the government’s human resources division, to block an effort to persuade roughly two million federal employees to resign.
The specifics of the lawsuit announced by the attorneys general on Thursday are unclear. However, according to their statement, their target is the work and access given to the group led by Mr. Musk.
“As the richest man in the world, Elon Musk is not used to being told ‘no,’ but in our country, no one is above the law,” they wrote.
Since Mr. Trump took office, Mr. Musk and his staff of young engineers have acted swiftly. They’ve taken over the United States Digital Service, now renamed United States DOGE Service, which was established in 2014 to fix the federal government’s online services.
They’ve also gained access to the Treasury Department’s payment system, following a standoff with top civil-service officials there. Access to the system has been closely held in the past because of the sensitivity of the information it holds, including Social Security checks, tax refunds and other payments from the federal government.
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