WASHINGTON — A group of federal employee unions sued the Treasury Department on Monday for sharing confidential data with the Department of Government Efficiency headed by Elon Musk. 

What You Need To Know

  • A group of federal employee unions sued the Treasury Department on Monday for sharing confidential data with the Department of Government Efficiency

  • On Friday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent granted DOGE representatives access to the federal payment system, which sends money on behalf of the U.S. government

  • The lawsuit alleges the Trump administration breached the Privacy Act of 1974 by sharing sensitive payment information with DOGE

  • Since appointing Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk to run the DOGE group tasked with reducing wasteful federal spending, President Trump has given Musk broad authority, including access to the U.S. Treasury

On Friday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent granted DOGE representatives access to the federal payment system, which sends money on behalf of the U.S. government. 

“The scale of the intrusion into individuals’ privacy is massive and unprecedented,” read the complaint, filed in a federal court in Washington, by the Alliance for Retired Americans, the American Federation of Government Employees and the Service Employees International Union. “People who share information with the federal government should not be forced to share information with Elon Musk or his ‘DOGE.’ And federal law says they do not have to.”

Since Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX and owner of X, was appointed to run the DOGE group tasked with reducing wasteful federal spending, President Trump has given Musk broad authority, including access to the U.S. Treasury.

On Monday, Trump defended Musk’s access to the federal payment system, saying, “He’s got access only to letting people go that he thinks are no good if we agree with him, and it’s only if we agree with him.” Trump stressed that Musk “can’t do and won’t do anything without our approval.”

The lawsuit alleges the Trump administration breached the Privacy Act of 1974 by sharing sensitive payment information with DOGE. Its plaintiffs are demanding an immediate end to what they say is a “systematic, continuous and ongoing violation of federal laws that protect the privacy of personal information contained in federal records.”

The White House did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment about the lawsuit.

The Alliance for Retired Americans is a grassroots advocacy group with 4.4 million members that works to protect and expand retirement security. Its executive director said seniors are already vulnerable to frauds and scams and expressed outrage that seniors’ sensitive personal and financial data has been accessed by DOGE staff.