Source: Office of the DE AG
Attorney General Kathy Jennings today joined a coalition of 18 attorneys general in filing a lawsuit against the Trump administration 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.
“Our office has been flooded with calls and e-mails from Delawareans who are justifiably alarmed by the idea that their private information is available to an unelected oligarch and his lackies,” said AG Jennings. “This is clearly unlawful and unacceptable. DOGE has no authority to access this information, which they explicitly sought in order to block critical payments that millions of Americans rely on – payments that support health care, childcare, and other essential programs. We are suing to stop this flagrant invasion of Delawareans’ privacy.”
Beginning February 2, 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. Jennings 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 Jennings 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.
Delawareans who wish to strengthen their data privacy can learn about new consumer rights under the Delaware Data Privacy Act (DDPA) at de.gov/privacy. While the DDPA does not affect the U.S. Treasury or any federal agency, it now affords Delawareans greater control over their personal data used by businesses.
Joining AG Jennings in filing the lawsuit are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin.
