The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the newly formed agency led by Elon Musk, is already facing its first major legal challenge, as a federal judge in Washington, D.C., heard arguments Wednesday on whether to block DOGE from accessing sensitive Treasury records.
At the center of the case? A lawsuit filed by major labor unions, claiming DOGE obtained millions of taxpayer financial records “without providing any legal justification.”
The lawsuit—brought by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and the Alliance for Retired Americans—claims that DOGE’s access to Treasury data is both unlawful and dangerous.
“This is a massive and unprecedented intrusion,” the suit alleges.
These union groups, all affiliated with the AFL-CIO, are demanding that U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly:
- Bar the Treasury Department from sharing additional taxpayer records with DOGE
- Prohibit DOGE employees from using any data they’ve already obtained
The unions argue that DOGE now has “full, continuous, and ongoing access” to millions of financial profiles, including names, Social Security numbers, and bank account details—a situation they claim could pose a nationwide privacy threat.
The Treasury Department, however, disputes these claims, stating on Tuesday that DOGE’s access has been strictly limited.
“DOGE has only been granted ‘read-only’ access to coded data.”
In other words, Musk’s team can see information but can’t alter or extract it—a key distinction that undermines the unions’ argument about a security risk.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt swiftly defended Musk’s work at DOGE, making it clear that:
“Musk has abided by all applicable federal laws.”
Meanwhile, **DOGE maintains that its work is focused on “eliminating inefficiencies, waste, and fraud”—not invading privacy.
Make no mistake: this isn’t just about data access. It’s about power.
DOGE was created to do what Washington has avoided for decades—cut government bloat. And who stands to lose the most from that? Public sector unions.
With Trump’s government overhaul now in full swing, unions are desperate to shut down anything that threatens their influence, funding, and control over the bureaucracy.
This lawsuit isn’t about privacy. It’s about stopping DOGE before it starts.
