The country’s capital judge refuses to block the Doge of cash systems

By Lindsay Whitehurst, Associated Press

Washington (AP) – A Washington Federal Judge refused on Friday to block employees of the Elon Musk Government Ministry access to cash systems containing sensitive personal data for millions of Americans.

However, she recognized confidentiality problems concerning their work. DOGE is still limited by another court order in New York.

In Washington, the American district judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly previously restricted Doge’s work at Treasury with two employees with a single reading access, with the cooperation of the Trump administration. One of these workers later resigned after being linked to publications on social networks that married racism; Musk said he would be rehired.

Kollar-Kotelly, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton, refused on Friday to grant a longer term block. His decision comes in a trial brought by retirees and union leaders who fear that DOGE’s activities can expose sensitive information.

Their concerns are “understandable and undoubtedly widely shared”, she noted. But at the moment, the complainants have not shown that they immediately risked lasting damage from the small team forced to keep the information confidential, wrote Kollar-Kotelly.

“The simple fact of ensuring that the operations of the Treasury Doge team increase the risk of catastrophic data violation or public disclosure of sensitive information … is not sufficient to support a preliminary injunction,” she wrote.

Kollar-Kotelly left the door open to people who have continued to return if new proof of immediate risk emerging, saying that it “would not hesitate” to grant a block in the event of proof of risky information sharing.

In Manhattan, on the other hand, a federal judge prohibited DOGE in cash systems in an order of the court welcomed last month in response to a trial by 19 Democratic prosecutors.

Originally published: March 7, 2025 at 7:35 pm PST