A federal judge in New York on Tuesday made some tweaks but left intact a ban for now that prevents President Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficiency from accessing Treasury Department records containing sensitive personal data for millions of Americans.
Judge Jeannette A. Vargas, a Joe Biden appointee, in Manhattan issued an order to continue a ban before a hearing Friday. The ban was put in place last week by U.S. District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer, a Barack Obama appointee, in response to a lawsuit that 19 Democrat attorneys general brought against Trump.
Vargas amended the ban to clarify its reach. For example, she said Treasury Department officers nominated by Trump and confirmed by the Senate can access the records, making it clear that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is not subject to the ban.
Department of Justice attorneys told Vargas in a filing Sunday that the ban was unconstitutional and needed to be immediately reversed.
The lawsuit contended that the DOGE team, led by Elon Musk, was composed of "political appointees" who should not have access to Treasury records handled by "civil servants" specially trained in protecting such sensitive information as Social Security and bank account numbers.
Justice Department attorneys from Washington, D.C., and New York argued in court papers Sunday that the ban was unconstitutional and a "remarkable intrusion on the Executive Branch" that must be immediately reversed. They said there was no basis for distinguishing between "civil servants" and "political appointees."
"Basic democratic accountability requires that every executive agency's work be supervised by politically accountable leadership, who ultimately answer to the President," they wrote. The attorneys said the ban on accessing the records by Musk's team "directly severs the clear line of supervision" required by the Constitution.
Vargas wrote in her order that it was not necessary yet to confront the constitutional questions raised by Justice Department attorneys.
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