Q: Can Elon Musk legally access Treasury and Social Security resources?
Can Elon Musk legally have access to resources or information from the Treasury and Social Security? I know judges have ruled in some cases he couldn’t, but how might he have gained access in the first place? Why are government workers in these bureaus not stopping him?
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A:
Judges have actually placed restrictions on Musk's team (Department of Government Efficiency or "DOGE") from accessing sensitive government systems. Most recently, a federal judge temporarily blocked DOGE from Social Security Administration systems containing personal data of millions of Americans, calling their work a "fishing expedition." The judge required the team to delete any personally identifiable data in their possession.
The confusion stems from February 2025 when Musk's DOGE team was granted "read-only access" to Treasury payment system codes. This system handles trillions in annual payments, including Social Security checks and federal salaries. The access occurred after Treasury's acting Deputy Secretary resigned following pressure from Musk's team.
Democratic lawmakers expressed serious concerns about this arrangement, with Senator Wyden stating that DOGE had "infiltrated a gold mine of data that every foreign spy and every corrupt actor would love to see." Many feared this could allow access to sensitive personal information including Social Security numbers, bank accounts, and home addresses of most Americans. Multiple legal challenges were filed by states' attorneys general, labor unions, and advocacy groups to restrict this access.
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