Attorney General Jeff Jackson of North Carolina filed a lawsuit against the federal government on Friday, February 7, 2025, to stop the sharing of financial and personal information with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a contentious agency.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and President Donald Trump are all named as defendants in the complaint, which was filed in a federal court.
On February 2, 2025, the U.S. Department of the Treasury adopted a new policy, which is the subject of the lawsuit.
The policy grants access to the Treasury Department’s primary payment system, which manages a wide range of vital government disbursements, to those connected to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), according to the attorney general’s office.
The system is in charge of allocating money for Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security payments, veterans’ benefits, and other vital services including public education, law enforcement assistance, and important infrastructure projects.
In a statement, Attorney General Jackson voiced his worries that this new policy would allow sensitive financial and personal data to be accessed without authorization and maybe widely.
According to federal law, only Treasury Department employees with a valid reason for access—such as those directly involved in processing payments or managing the system’s operation—are permitted to use the Treasury’s payment system. Jackson’s office contends that this policy’s inclusion of DOGE employees constitutes a serious security and privacy violation and may result in the inappropriate use of extremely sensitive data.
Jackson and other attorneys general are criticizing the Department of Government Efficiency, which is now largely unregulated, for not having the supervision tools needed to guarantee safe and legal access to this system.
Opponents contend that giving access to financial and personal data to any organization other than the Treasury Department, particularly on a large scale, might result in identity theft, abuse, and other major security threats.
Jackson’s lawsuit asks for an injunction to stop the Treasury Department from putting this new policy into effect and giving DOGE employees access to private information.
The attorney general of North Carolina is not the only one who opposes. Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin are among the 18 other state attorneys general who have joined him in this coalition.
The coalition contends that this policy is an unjustified overreach that jeopardizes citizens’ financial security and privacy in addition to being a violation of federal law. Jackson and the other attorneys general are bringing this case in an attempt to stop the policy before it is put into effect and to safeguard the financial and personal information of millions of Americans who depend on the Treasury Department’s services for basic necessities.
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“This is federal overreach that puts millions of Americans at risk by exposing confidential financial data without legal justification,” Jackson stated. “For decades, federal protections have been in place for a reason. This policy change violates federal law and threatens people’s privacy and security.
Now that DOGE is gaining access to the Social Security system, this matter has become even more urgent.”
This legal action reflects rising worry about the possible weakening of privacy protections in the federal government and growing scrutiny of how government agencies utilize and monitor personal data.
Future legal discussions concerning the extent and authority of governmental bodies over the private information of persons are anticipated to be significantly impacted by the litigation.
You may view the entire lawsuit here.
