A lawsuit has lead to an Elon Musk-headed organization unable to access billions of dollars worth of cash.
In recent days, it was reported that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) had been granted access to America’s Treasury Department payment system.
DOGE is a temporary organization set up by President Trump that to ‘dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies’.
He shared the news of its creation in November and named Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy as the two people that will lead it.
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President Trump appointed Elon Musk to head DOGE last year (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
Since then, it’s been reported that the Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, agreed to allow a team who works under DOGE to oversee the Treasury’s payment system, which is charge of distributing things like Americans’ tax returns, Social Security benefits, disability payments and federal employees’ salaries – all of which equates to a flow of more than $6 trillion.
It’s believed these team members in question have been able to access the critical payment system since January 20 (the day Trump was sworn into office), but a federal judge has now temporarily halted this.
Today (February 8), US District Judge Paul Engelmayer issued the order in question, which also tells DOGE members to destroy any downloaded information from the payment system, CNN reports.
Englemayer said of his decision that ‘the risk that the new policy presents of the disclosure of sensitive and confidential information and the heightened risk that the systems in question will be more vulnerable than before to hacking’.
A hearing on the matter has been scheduled for Friday, February 14.
The order comes after 19 State Attorney Generals filed a suit against the Trump administration and accused DOGE of engaging in unauthorized access to sensitive information.
New York Attorney General Letitia James filed the suit yesterday, CBS News reports, with Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin also joining the petition.
New York Attorney General Letitia James filed the suit against the Trump administration (Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Part of the suit reads: “Nineteen States bring this action against Treasury, the Treasury Secretary, and the President to put an end to this new dangerous expanded access policy.”
It also states that ‘only a limited number of career civil servants at BFS with appropriate security clearance had access to the BFS payment systems’ before DOGE was given access.
With this in mind, there are fears that the DOGE members’ conduct ‘presents a unique security risk to the States and State residents whose data is held’.
In response to people’s concerns, the Treasury previously insisted that DOGE members have ‘read only’ access, and that they cannot tamper with the payment system’s expenditures.
Donald Trump has set the record straight on the powers his pal Elon Musk actually has after the Tesla boss’ team were given access to some of the most sensitive financial databases.
The controversial move has seen the world’s richest man able to cast his eyes over the federal payment system which includes the data of millions of people across the US as well as public contractors.
It’s all part of Musk’s shiny new role as a ‘special government employee’ in Trump’s administration, which sees him head up the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative.
Elon Musk has wasted no time getting stuck into his new role (Kenny Holston-Pool/Getty Images)
DOGE has reportedly been granted ‘full access’ to the sensitive financial data by Trump’s Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, with Democratic Senator Ron Wyden explaining that this includes ‘social security and Medicare benefits, grants, payments to government contractors… All of it’.
The information inside these databases has previously only ever been opened up to a select few, and it seems to have sparked legal trouble as federal unions sued the Treasury Department to block Musk’s access on Monday (February 3).
The unions are alleging that the move to let Musk have access is unlawful disclosure of millions of Americans’ private data, accusing the team of violating the Privacy Act and the Internal Revenue Code.
That same day, President Trump confirmed the tech billionaire had indeed been granted access to the Treasury Department’s critical payment system, but did make it clear that Musk ‘can’t’ do ‘anything without our approval’.
Speaking to press as he signed a slew of new executive orders, Trump said: “Elon can’t do and won’t do anything without our approval. And we’ll give him the approval where appropriate. Where not appropriate, we won’t.”
It comes after Musk declared that he and Trump would be working towards pulling the curtain down on foreign aid agency USAid.
Musk said Trump backs plans to shut down USAid (Tom Brenner for The Washington Post via Getty Images)
The organization – which has around 10,000 staff – is the world’s largest single donor of humanitarian aid, having spent over $40 billion across the world in 2023.
USAid’s spending is decided by Congress, and focuses mainly on providing aid overseas and supporting international charities.
Some of the money goes to the likes of women’s health in conflict zones, access to clean water, and HIV/AIDS treatment.
Musk said: “It’s [USAid] beyond repair. He [Trump] agreed we should shut it down.”
The billionaire added: “It became apparent that it’s not an apple with a worm it in. What we have is just a ball of worms. You’ve got to basically get rid of the whole thing.”
In terms of how feasible this would actually be, Trump may be able to massively downside USAid using executive orders, but he would likely need the support of Congress to actually shut it down altogether.
This is because Congress established USAid as an independent agency in 1998, having first been created in 1961 by John F. Kennedy.
The White House has clarified Elon Musk’s new role within the US federal government with the blessing of President Donald Trump.
A few weeks after Trump was sworn in, taking over from his Democratic predecessor Joe Biden, Musk has been at the centre of a controversy as he’s been appointed to a special governement role.
Musk, who is the world’s richest man and the CEO of Tesla, SpaceX and social platform X (formerly Twitter) amongst other companies, has since gained power within the government, having access to sensitive databases and sidelining employees with the aim of cutting spending.
But what is Musk’s job title exactly, you might ask.
Elon Musk reportedly spent $250 million to support Donald Trump on his presidential campaign. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
The White House has responded to so many Americans’ question with a murky definition, naming Musk a ‘special government employee’. However vague, the job title comes with certain privileges, of course. If you’re thinking in shock, ‘what more privileges could Elon Musk want’, just you wait till you read the whole spiel.
According to APNews, as a special government employee, Musk is subjected to less stringent rules on ethics and financial disclosures than other workers. Trump has also given Musk office space in the White House complex to oversee a team of people at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a temporary organisation led by Musk and formed without congressional approval.
Trump has recently addressed concerns regarding Musk’s conflict of interest, saying: “Elon can’t do and won’t do anything without our approval.
“Where we think there’s a conflict or there’s a problem, we won’t let him go near it, but he has some very good ideas,” he added.
Some have seen Musk’s close involvement in the White House affairs as a ‘reward’ for his work during Trump’s campaign.
The tech mogul supported Trump against Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, spending roughly $250 million to back the Republican through America PAC (via APNews). This is a super political action committee, a coalition of businesses rallying behind Trump and founded by Musk, with actions including door-to-door canvassing and digital advertising.
Musk has been appointed a special governative employee by Trump. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, the public has been raising eyebrows at the appointment, with some Reddit users pointing out the Republican double standards had former President Biden appointed philanthropist George Soros to a similar role.
“This would have gone over really well with conservatives had Biden done this,” one person wrote, while another noted: “lol imagine if Joe Biden had hired George Soros to be a ‘special government employee.’”
Finally, a third person highlighted an eerie similarity between the language used to describe Musk’s new gig at the White House and that of Russian president Vladimir Putin when announcing the invasion of Ukraine in his infamous February 2022 speech.
“Reminds me of someone calling something a ‘special military operation,’” the Redditor noted, with another person agreeing: “Exactly what I clicked on here to say, absolutely crazy.”
A priest has been stripped of his church license after mimicking Elon Musk’s ‘Nazi salute’ at a pro-Trump event.
A ring-wing priest from the UK has had his church license taken away after he appeared to copy the controversial movement Elon Musk made during President Donald Trump‘s inauguration ceremony on Monday (January 20).
The Tesla CEO and SpaceX founder appeared to be thrilled about the prospect of sending a man to Mars and planting an American flag.
Speaking to the Capitol One Arena in Washington, the Twitter owner thumped his chest and shot his right arm out towards the sky, twice.
The now-disgraced priest admitted he copied Musk (Twitter/calvinrobinson)
The move sparked controversy, with many viewers accusing Musk of making a ‘Sieg Heil’ salute.
Now, Father Calvin Robinson, who is reportedly connected to the UK’s far-right movement, has been stripped of his lofty position in the Anglican Church after allegedly making the controversial move at a National Pro-Life rally on Saturday (January 25).
Speaking to the anti-abortion protesters, Robinson said: “This is the last stand for Christendom.
“It’s make-or-break time. The whole of the old world is crumbling. Every country in Europe is embracing death.
“America, as far as I can see, is the only country fighting for life.”
The religious leader then thanked the audience before imitating Musk’s gesture.
As he said God bless all of you,’ he also added ‘my heart goes out to you’, while he hit his chest and extended his right arm at at the same angle.
The move gained some laughs from the crowd, which Robinson acknowledged the chuckles with a smirk.
However, the move didn’t go down so well with the Anglican Catholic Church which wrote in a statement that it was ‘aware’ of the incident and has revoked his license.
The statement reads in part: “While we cannot say what was in Mr. Robinson’s heart when he did this, his action appears to have been an attempt to curry favor with certain elements of the American political right by provoking its opposition.
“Mr. Robinson had been warned that online trolling and other such actions (whether in service of the left or right) are incompatible with a priestly vocation and was told to desist.
“Clearly, he has not, and as such, his license in this Church has been revoked. He is no longer serving as a priest in the ACC.”
Elon Musk, the ‘first buddy’ to President Donald Trump, controversially went against his leader by claiming the $500 billion AI project the Republican plans on starting up doesn’t ‘actually have the money’.
The 78-year-old has now responded to Musk’s claim about Stargate – ‘the largest AI infrastructure project in history’, which has been backed by seven major companies, and supposedly a half a trillion dollar investment.
President Donald Trump speaks in the Roosevelt Room flanked by Masayoshi Son (2R), Chairman and CEO of SoftBank Group Corp, Larry Ellison (2L), Executive Charmain Oracle and Sam Altman (R), CEO of OpenAI (JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)
But before we get into that, let’s just quickly explain what the project is.
Stargate will see the construction of data centers in the US that will power AI.
The buildout is currently underway in Texas, but other potential sites are being scouted across the country as ‘definitive agreements’ are finalized.
This infrastructure will ‘secure American leadership in AI,’ create ‘hundreds of thousands of American jobs‘ and ‘generate massive economic benefit for the entire world,’ OpenAI – the company behind ChatGPT – claimed on its website.
“This project will not only support the re-industrialization of the United States but also provide a strategic capability to protect the national security of America and its allies,” it continued.
The three key players involved are Oracle CTO Larry Ellison, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son.
It was confirmed $100 billion of funding would be made available ‘immediately,’ with $500 billion to be invested in total by 2029.
The US is already a world-leader of artificial intelligence, and it appears Donald Trump is anxious to keep it that way.
“I’m going to help a lot through emergency declarations because we have an emergency,” he said.
Elon Musk has been critical of the AI project (ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)
So what did Musk tweet?
The tech billionaire has been critical of the project because of a decade-long feud with OpenAI boss Altman, and so took to his social media platform Twitter, to post: “They don’t actually have the money.”
Referring to Stargate, before later adding: “SoftBank has well under $10B secured. I have that on good authority.”
While signing a series of executive orders in the Oval Office, Trump was asked about Musk’s criticisms.
When asked whether he was bothered by Musk’s words, Trump replied: “No, he hates one of the people in the deal.”
He added: “People in the deal are very, very smart people. But Elon – one of the people, he happens to hate. But I have certain hatreds of people, too.”
