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Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, who has been one of the lead advocates against President Trump's recent actions since assuming office, has joined a coalition to block DOGE access to Treasury payment systems.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, February 7, 2025
ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG SUES PRESIDENT TRUMP AND SECRETARY OF TREASURY TO BLOCK DOGE ACCESS TO CONFIDENTIAL RECORDS, SENSITIVE DATA AND CRITICAL PAYMENT SYSTEMS
(Hartford, CT) -- Attorney General William Tong today joined a coalition of 19 attorneys general suing President Donald Trump, the U.S. Treasury and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to stop the unauthorized disclosure of Americans’ private information and sensitive data. The lawsuit asserts that the Trump administration illegally provided Elon Musk and the so-called “Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)” unauthorized access to the Treasury Department’s central payment system, and therefore to Americans’ most sensitive personal information, including bank account details and Social Security numbers. This expanded access could allow Musk and his team to block federal funds to states and programs providing health care, childcare, and other critical services. With this lawsuit, the coalition of attorneys general is seeking to stop the Trump administration’s new policy that illegally grants DOGE, Musk, and others access to Americans’ confidential information and the U.S. Treasury’s payment systems.
“This is the largest data breach in American history. DOGE is an unlawfully constituted band of renegade tech bros combing through confidential records, sensitive data and critical payment systems. What could go wrong? They have been given access to re-write code and delete files, and have vowed to use this access to dismantle the federal programs and services. We have no idea what they are doing with this information, and whether the world’s richest man is using this information to further enrich himself and his companies. We are suing to protect the functioning of our government and the security of every single American’s private data,” said Attorney General Tong. “Elon Musk calls his unlawful actions the Second American Revolution. It is more accurate to say this is a rebellion from within, and we will use every legal tool available to stop him.”
Beginning February 2, 2025, the Trump administration’s Treasury Department adopted a new policy that grants “special government employees,” including Elon Musk and members of DOGE, access to its central payment system operated by the Bureau of Fiscal Services (BFS). This central payment system controls vital funding that millions of Americans depend on, including Social Security payments, veteran’s benefits, Medicare and Medicaid payments, and more. The payment system also controls billions of dollars that states rely on to support essential services like law enforcement, public education, and infrastructure repairs.
Access to BFS is limited by federal law to a select group of career civil servants with the appropriate security clearances. Attorney General Tong and the coalition assert the Treasury Department’s new policy, which expands access to BFS’s payment system, violates the law, jeopardizes Americans’ most sensitive personal information, and would allow Elon Musk and other unauthorized political appointees to access a system that could permit them to freeze federal funds with the click of a button in violation of the Constitution.
With this lawsuit, Attorney General Tong and the coalition of attorneys general are seeking an injunction preventing the Trump administration from continuing its new policy of expanded access to BFS’s payment system, as well as a declaration that the Treasury Department’s policy change is unlawful and unconstitutional.
Joining Attorney General Tong in filing the lawsuit are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin.
