Billionaire Musk blocked from accessing US Treasury payment system

A judge has issued an emergency temporary injunction barring billionaire Elon Musk's government reform group from accessing the personal and financial data of millions of Americans stored at the Treasury Department .

Billionaire Musk, the world's richest man, is leading US President Donald Trump's efforts to cut federal spending under the so-called Office of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Mr. Musk has recently courted controversy with reports that he and his team within DOGE were accessing sensitive data stored at the US Treasury Department.

Billionaire Elon Musk is currently co-heading the Office of Government Effectiveness (DOGE) under the administration of US President Donald Trump.

The injunction by US federal judge A. Engelmayer restricts access to the Treasury Department's payment system and other data to "all political appointees, special government employees, and government employees designated from an agency outside the Treasury Department," according to AFP.

The temporary restraining order, which is in effect until a hearing on February 14, also states that anyone who has accessed data from US Treasury Department records since President Trump's inauguration on January 20 must "immediately destroy any copies of the downloaded documents."

The order came after a coalition of Democratic attorneys general from 19 US states filed a lawsuit late on February 7, arguing that DOGE did not have legal authority to access US Treasury Department systems, according to Reuters.

In the lawsuit, the attorneys general argue that billionaire Musk and his team could disrupt federal funding for health clinics, preschools, climate initiatives and other programs.

Hours after the ban was issued, billionaire Musk denounced Judge Engelmayer as an "activist" and accused the Democratic Party of "trying to cover up the biggest fraud in human history!"

Mr. Musk also wrote on social network X that the list of entities that cannot receive government payments should be updated at least weekly, if not daily. He emphasized that these changes are “obvious and necessary” and are made by government employees, not by anyone from DOGE.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/ti-phu-musk-bi-ngan-tiep-can-he-thong-thanh-toan-cua-bo-tai-chinh-my-18525020909560735.htm