Attorney General Dan Rayfield issued the following statement today, reacting to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York’s decision to issue a preliminary injunction against the Trump administration and DOGE’s access to private information.
“Today’s decision provides important protection to Oregonians. Reckless decisions by the Trump administration and Elon Musk have risked exposing highly sensitive personal and financial information. The court correctly put a stop to that until the federal government proves that everyone who has access to that information has been properly vetted and trained.
“This injunction is one step in making sure that the federal government follows the law. We’ll continue to fight for Oregonians and protect our public agencies from federal overreach. Our government belongs to the people, not to those who think they can control it with their wealth and power.”
The lawsuit from Oregon and 18 other states asserts that the Trump administration illegally provided Elon Musk and the so-called “Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)” unauthorized access to the Treasury Department’s central payment system, and therefore to Americans’ most sensitive personal information, including bank account details and Social Security numbers.
The U.S. District Court initially granted the coalition a temporary restraining order on February 10th. Today’s order, which continues that relief, concludes that the coalition of states are likely to succeed in proving that the “chaotic and haphazard” launch of the Treasury DOGE Team created “serious risks” to sensitive and confidential information in Treasury’s systems.
The court noted that the DOGE Team received full access to those systems even though they had “minimal, if any, training” on handling sensitive government information and it is unclear whether they underwent any vetting or security clearance. The court also noted that the “artificial sense of urgency” purportedly created by President Trump’s executive orders did not justify the “flawed process that occurred here.”
In addition to barring the Treasury from giving DOGE any access to its systems that have personally identifiable information or confidential financial information, the court ordered the Treasury to report back within a month showing that all DOGE Team members have been properly vetted and trained.
Joining Attorney General Dan Rayfield in filing the lawsuit are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin.