Judge softens DOGE ban on access to Treasury Department information for one staffer

A New York judge eased a ban put on billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency that blocked its access to sensitive payment information at the Treasury Department. 

That extra access pertained to one staffer on the efficiency apparatus. 

District Court Judge Jeannette A. Vargas on Friday gave the staffer, Ryan Wunderly, permission to see sensitive payment information and data systems at the agency. Mr. Wunderly will get access if he undergoes the same training that Treasury employees receive and if he submits a financial disclosure form. 

DOGE, which was formed by an executive order shortly after President Trump took office, has operated under the auspices of rooting out waste, fraud and abuse throughout the federal government in a bid to cut costs and downsize the federal workforce. 

Judge Vargas’ decision comes after a lawsuit brought by 19 Democratic state attorneys general against the Trump administration this year. Led by New York’s Letitia James, they argued that DOGE’s access to the Treasury Department’s data was an invasion of privacy. 

Their lawsuit said Mr. Musk’s team was made up of political appointees who shouldn’t have access to sensitive payment information, which included Social Security and bank account numbers. The data DOGE was accessing in particular provided trillions in payments each year. 

The Trump administration contended in a filing for the case that Mr. Wunderly’s bonafides were “critical to the Treasury DOGE team’s efforts” and noted that he had the proper training. 

The judge’s decision to grant access to the information undercuts a previous opinion of hers and an order from District Court Judge Paul Engelmayer. 

He originally blocked DOGE’s access in February.

His order explicitly prohibited special government employees and political appointees, like the ones working at DOGE, from accessing the data. Notably, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who went through the Senate confirmation process, was exempt.