Judge says US Treasury ‘more vulnerable to hacking’ since Trump let the DOGE out
Order requires destruction of departmental data accessed by Musky men
Trump administration policies that allowed Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency to access systems and data at the Bureau of the Fiscal Service (BFS) have left the org “more vulnerable to hacking” according to federal Judge Paul A. Engelmayer in New York City.
Judge Engelmayer used that phrase in an order [PDF] filed in Feb 8 in the case of State of New York et al vs Trump et al, which saw 19 State attorneys’ general argue that allowing the Trump-blessed Elon-Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency to access systems and data at the Bureau of Fiscal Services (BFS) broke at least one law and violates the US Constitution, among other legal errors.
A related lawsuit has already seen another judge order that just two special government employees, aka DOGE agents, be allowed to access BFS systems and data.
The Engelmayer order requires any “special government employees” who have accessed BFS data since January 20 to “immediately destroy any and all copies of material downloaded from the Treasury Department’s records and systems.”
The order also requires that the administration is not allowed to grant access to Treasury Department data that contains personally identifiable information and/or confidential financial information of payees, unless the people who get permission are “civil servants with a need for access to perform their job duties within the Bureau of Fiscal Services” and have passed all background checks and completed infosec training as required by federal laws and departmental regulations.
The judge thinks that’s appropriate because, in his view, “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.” The Order doesn’t explain what information informed that view.
A hearing on February 14 will consider next steps in the matter.
PS... It looks as though online shoppers are noticing the President's 10 percent import tax on stuff coming into America from China. People buying stuff from the Middle Kingdom are facing extra fees during delivery, as expected.
Elon Musk appears to have referred to Engelmayer in a Xeet that reads “A corrupt judge protecting corruption. He needs to be impeached NOW!” He offered no evidence of corruption.
He did, however, claim that DOGE and Treasury have agreed on a new requirement that will see “… all outgoing government payments have a payment categorization code, which is necessary in order to pass financial audits”. Musk also claimed that Treasury has agreed that the comments fields in data describing US government payments will now always be used, and that Do-Not-pay lists “must actually be implemented and not ignored.”
Musk’s X handle now describes him as “White House tech support” and his concern for database fields suggests he’s getting his hands dirty! ®
What has DOGE been up to? Over the weekend, the home page of the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CBFP) started to produce a 404: Page Not Found error - the seeming result of a reported decision to shut down the agency for at least a week on the recommendation of Elon's team. The bureau’s activities include advice on how to avoid phishing and identity theft.
The Wall Street Journal earlier reported that DOGE had turned its attention to the bureau. Musk Xeeted “CFBP RIP” on Saturday.
Last week, we also saw reports that DOGE, with the White House's blessing, accessing highly sensitive systems, some involving personal data and classified materials, at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the General Services Administration, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and the Dept of Education, at least.
This has included, it's said, analyzing sensitive Dept of Education data with AI tools in Microsoft's Azure cloud. All with the stated intention of rooting out inefficiencies and things to cut, aka stuff Musk doesn't find appropriate.
That said, DOGE operatives were removed from the OPM's sensitive personnel databases, it was reported over the weekend.
So far it's reported those working on behalf of DOGE include Akash Bobba, Edward Coristine, Luke Farritor, Gautier Cole Killian, Gavin Kliger, and Ethan Shaotran, as well as Krause and until now Elez. Musk allies Anthony Armstrong, Riccardo Biasini, Brian Bjelde, Steve Davis, Stephen Ehikian, Nicole Hollander, Amanda Scales, Thomas Shedd, and Christopher Stanley have also been installed in Washington, it's understood.
Meanwhile, Republicans are blocking Democrats' attempts to subpoena Musk over his DOGE campaign. Ted Carstensen, the deputy administrator of the United States Digital Service that was renamed to DOGE and commandeered by Musk, has resigned and not taken an OPM-offered severance deal. NASA staff were also reportedly told to delete indigenous people, women in leadership, and others, from public websites, as part of Trump's anti-DEI executive order.
- Does DOGE have what it takes to actually tackle billions in US govt IT spending?
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- Democrats demand to know WTF is up with that DOGE server on OPM's network