A coalition of over a dozen U.S. states say they are planning to file a lawsuit in an effort to block billionaire Elon Musk’s team of cost-cutters from accessing sensitive federal government payment systems containing personal data on Americans.
In a brief statement shared by 13 Democratic attorneys general, including California, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland and New York, the coalition said it was planning to file the lawsuit “in defense of our Constitution, our right to privacy, and the essential funding that individuals and communities nationwide are counting on.”
The coalition of states did not say when they planned to file the lawsuit, in which court, or what specific relief the attorneys general were seeking. TechCrunch contacted several U.S. state governments for comment but did not hear back.
The planned lawsuit comes days after Musk’s team of mostly young, private sector associates from his various businesses gained access to top U.S. government departments and datasets, including systems containing the personal information of millions of Americans who receive Social Security checks, tax returns, and other payments from the federal government. Many of these systems were historically limited to a few departmental career staffers, given the sensitivity of the data.
Musk and his team, known as the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, are now in control of the U.S. Treasury, the Department of Education, the Department of Health and Human Services, and several other key federal agencies. Senior Democrats have called Musk’s access a risk to national security, citing the conflicts over his extensive business dealings in China.
Musk, the world’s richest man, has a net worth of more than $400 billion.
While the U.S. does not provide nationwide data protections for Americans, U.S. states have long established laws that require the protection of their state residents’ data — including at the federal government level.
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