Judge Partially Lifts Ban on DOGE Access to Sensitive Treasury Data

A federal judge in New York has partially lifted a ban preventing members of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from accessing sensitive systems at the U.S. Treasury, allowing one DOGE staffer conditional access to federal payment data. In an opinion issued April 11, U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas ruled that Ryan Wunderly, a member of the DOGE team, may access Treasury’s Bureau of Fiscal Services (BFS) systems—provided he first completes the standard hands-on training required of Treasury employees and submits a financial disclosure report. The BFS payment systems handle the personal and financial information of millions of Americans, including Social Security and bank account numbers. DOGE, created by President Donald Trump on his first day in office, was tasked with identifying inefficiencies in federal operations as part of Trump’s effort to cut government spending....