Federal judge tightens DOGE leash over critical Treasury payment system access

A federal court issued a temporary restraining order limiting Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) access to the US Treasury’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service systems to read-only for two aides (Tom Krause and Marko Elez), following a lawsuit by unions and advocacy groups alleging unlawful disclosure of Americans’ personal and financial data. The proposed preliminary injunction would bar further disclosures and require safeguarding or retrieval of any data already accessed; Treasury must respond by Feb 12 with a hearing on Feb 24. Earlier media claims that Elez had superuser, production-modifying access were later challenged by a Treasury IT official’s affidavit, and Elez subsequently resigned amid unrelated controversy.