By Hank Russell
Some New York elected officials are pushing back against Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), saying that Musk is not a government employee and his department should not have access to the private information of American citizens.
DOGE was formed in an effort to eliminate and work on ways to make the federal government run more efficiently, according to its website. The newly created department was originally co-led by Muck and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, but Ramaswamy departed to gear up his campaign for governor of Ohio.
Some of the federal agencies Musk has reportedly targeted for either a reduction or elimination include the Department of Education, NASA, the Federal Emergency Relief Agency (FEMA), and US Agency for International Development, among others. In addition, DOGE is looking to get rid of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives within these agencies.
Attorney General Letitia James led a coalition of 18 other attorneys general in filing a lawsuit against the Trump administration on February 7 to stop what they claim was the unauthorized disclosure of Americans’ private information. James’ lawsuit asserted that the Trump administration illegally provided Musk and DOGE employees unauthorized access to the Treasury Department’s central payment system, and therefore to Americans’ most sensitive personal information.
On the morning of February 8, a federal judge in the Southern District of New York granted James’ motion for a temporary restraining order (TRO) blocking Elon Musk and his DOGE employees from accessing Americans’ most sensitive personal information and ordering them to immediately destroy any and all copies of records they had already obtained.
James joined another coalition of eleven attorneys general on February 14 seeking a preliminary injunction to continue to bar the unauthorized access to Americans’ personal data through the Treasury’s payment system. She was joined by the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Oregon.
“Elon Musk may be the richest man in the world, but the law is clear: he has no authority to access your private information,” James and the attorney generals said in a statement. “The Constitution gives Congress – not the President – primary control over federal spending.”
Meanwhile, Congressman Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) signed a letter with fellow members of the House Ways & Means Committee that was sent to Social Security Administration Acting Commissioner Michele King expressing concern that DOGE can have access to citizens’ private data.
“Social Security has been the bedrock promise of economic security in our nation for the last century,” the Members wrote. “After a lifetime of work or in life’s most precarious moments, it provides benefits to approximately 70 million people across the United States, including seniors, survivors, and people with disabilities.”
Suozzi and the other members had a list of questions for King and gave her 72 hours to respond. Among the questions were whether how and why Musk and DOGE employees were given access to this information, what background and security checks have they gone through and what happens if there is a data breach.
“We will not stand by and allow the sensitive personal information of our nation’s Social Security beneficiaries to be politicized or bought and sold to the highest bidder, or to allow any harm to their Social Security benefits,” the Members continued. “The stakes are too high and the consequences too grave.”
“My office alone has received more than 1,000 calls from constituents who are afraid Elon Musk and his DOGE team of college-aged kids have unfettered access to their private information,” said Suozzi. “No one, including DOGE, should be ransacking the confidential information of private citizens, whether that information relates to their taxes, their healthcare, their social security status, or anything else.”
Long Island Life & Politics reached out to the Trump administration for comment, but did not hear back as of press time.
LILP recently held a poll about DOGE. Of those who responded, over two-thirds (67.33%) think it is a good idea while 30.23% don’t like it at all.