Unions Sue Over DOGE’s Access to Treasury Payment System

The complaint was filed amid Democratic opposition to DOGE’s ability to review Bureau of Fiscal Service data.

Two unions and an associated nonprofit have filed a lawsuit against Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the Treasury Department, and Treasury’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service, challenging the access the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has been granted to Americans’ financial records.

The complaint from the Service Employees International Union, the AFL-CIO’s American Federation of Government Employees, and the Alliance for Retired Americans asks the D.C. District Court to declare DOGE’s ability to obtain and view Fiscal Service records unlawful and to immediately bar DOGE’s access to those records.

“The scale of the intrusion into individuals’ privacy is massive and unprecedented. Millions of people cannot avoid engaging in financial transactions with the federal government and, therefore, cannot avoid having their sensitive personal and financial information maintained in government records,” states the complaint, which was submitted in part by longtime Democratic lawyer Norm Eisen, who posted about it on X.

The filing accuses Bessent of running afoul of the Privacy Act of 1974 and the Internal Revenue Code by giving “DOGE-affiliated individuals full access to the Bureau’s data and the computer systems that house them.”

It also accuses Bessent and the agencies of going beyond their authority under the law and of violating the Administrative Procedure Act, calling the move to open up Fiscal Service records to DOGE both arbitrary and capricious.

It questions the reported involvement of Tom Krause, the CEO of Cloud Software Group, as a Treasury employee liaising with DOGE.

Neither Bessent nor the agencies have “publicly disclosed the members of Mr. Krause’s team or provided the details of the ‘plan’ for access that Secretary Bessent reportedly signed off on,” according to the complaint.

The Epoch Times has reached out to the White House and the Treasury Department for comment.

In fiscal year 2023, nearly 88 percent of federal payments went through Fiscal Service, amounting to more than $5 trillion. It disbursed 1.3 billion payments that year alone.

The lawsuit comes as congressional Democrats condemn DOGE’s access to Fiscal Service records.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Feb. 3 that he would soon introduce legislation aimed at curtailing that access if Bessent does not put a stop to it.

“We must protect people’s Social Security payments, their Medicare payments, tax refunds, from any possible tampering by DOGE or any other unauthorized entities,” Schumer said.

He and other Democrat lawmakers who spoke about DOGE and those records at a Feb. 3 press conference acknowledged their limited capacity to resist what is happening as Republicans currently occupy the executive branch and hold majorities in the House and Senate.

Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) said those in his party “don’t have extensive leverage,” though he suggested additional parliamentary maneuvers would be revealed in time.

As Americans’ private records come into focus, Musk has condemned the publicization of DOGE employees’ names, which some see as part of an attempt at intimidation.

Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk listens as President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with House Republicans at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Washington on Nov. 13, 2024. Allison Robbert/Pool via Reuters

Wired magazine revealed the identities of six individuals believed to be working for DOGE.

On X, Musk wrote that one anonymous user “committed a crime” by listing the names.

In a public letter to Musk, Ed Martin, the new acting U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, wrote that he and his staff intended to “assist in protecting the DOGE work and the DOGE workers.”

“We will pursue any and all legal action against anyone who impedes your work or threatens your people,” Martin wrote.