Judge approves Treasury DOGE team’s access to sensitive data systems
The ruling found that the Trump administration had shown it set up a process to appropriately vet and train the employees.
The ruling marks a win for the Trump administration, which set off a political and legal firestorm earlier this year for granting access to the payment systems to Elon Musk’s DOGE operation. | Saul Loeb/Getty Images
By MICHAEL STRATFORD
05/27/2025 07:39 PM ED
A federal judge in New York on Tuesday cleared the way for the Treasury Department’s entire DOGE team to access the federal government’s sensitive data systems that manage trillions of dollars in payments each year.
U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas lifted the final legal restriction barring four Treasury DOGE staffers from accessing Treasury’s payments infrastructure. Vargas relaxed her earlier order, finding the Trump administration had shown it set up a process to appropriately vet and train the employees.
The ruling marks a win for the Trump administration, which set off a political and legal firestorm earlier this year for granting access to the payment systems to Elon Musk’s DOGE operation. The payment systems contain sensitive financial data on tens of millions of American citizens and businesses.
New York Attorney General Letitia James and 18 other Democratic attorneys general had sued to block DOGE’s access to the systems.
In February, Vargas, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, largely sided with the states and prohibited DOGE staffers from accessing the system. At the time, she ruled that Treasury’s process for granting access to the sensitive data was so rushed and haphazard that it likely violated the law.
But the latest ruling on Tuesday significantly relaxes those restrictions, allowing Treasury DOGE team leader Tom Krause and DOGE members Linda Whitridge, Samuel Corcos, and Todd Newnam to access the agency’s payment and data systems.
Another DOGE staffer, Ryan Wunderly, had already been granted access to the data as part of a separate ruling by Vargas in April.