When DataBreaches said, “Send in the lawyers” to sue Musk, she was thinking of personal injury lawyers who handle data breach litigation. But 14 state attorneys general may be even better. From NYS Attorney General Letitia James:
NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James today led a coalition of 14 attorneys general in releasing the following statement in response to the U.S. Department of the Treasury granting Elon Musk and his so-called “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) staffers access to sensitive payment systems containing Americans’ personally identifiable information:
“In the past week, the U.S. Department of the Treasury has given Elon Musk access to Americans’ personal private information, state bank account data, and other information that is some of our country’s most sensitive data.
“As the richest man in the world, Elon Musk is not used to being told ‘no,’ but in our country, no one is above the law. The President does not have the power to give away our private information to anyone he chooses, and he cannot cut federal payments approved by Congress.
“This level of access for unauthorized individuals is unlawful, unprecedented, and unacceptable. DOGE has no authority to access this information, which they explicitly sought in order to block critical payments that millions of Americans rely on – payments that support health care, childcare, and other essential programs.
“In defense of our Constitution, our right to privacy, and the essential funding that individuals and communities nationwide are counting on, we will be filing a lawsuit to stop this injustice.”
Joining Attorney General James in releasing this statement are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont.
Source: NYS Attorney General Letitia James
The concerns raised by New York Attorney General Letitia James and other officials about the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) seem to misunderstand what DOGE actually does. There’s nothing unusual about the government bringing in people with hacking backgrounds, even some with past convictions. It’s been happening for years. Kevin Mitnick, for example, was once one of the most wanted hackers in the world, but after serving time, he went on to work with government agencies to help strengthen security. Another case is Albert Gonzalez, who worked with the Secret Service before he got caught in a massive credit card theft scheme. Even Adrian Lamo, known for hacking major corporations, later helped authorities in cybersecurity investigations. The government understands that the best way to secure systems is to have people who know how to break them. Also, A big misconception here is that DOGE somehow has dangerous access to sensitive government payment systems. That’s simply not true. DOGE’s access is read-only, meaning they can look at data but can’t change, block, or manipulate anything. Read-only access is standard in audits because it allows investigators to see what’s going on without being able to interfere with operations. The claim that DOGE is trying to stop payments for important programs like healthcare and childcare is misleading. Their job is to make sure the money is being spent the way it’s supposed to be and that taxpayer dollars aren’t being wasted. DOGE has already proven it can find fraud and corruption. In past investigations, they uncovered scams in COVID-19 relief funds, preventing millions of dollars from going to fake claims. They’ve also found “ghost employees” on government payrolls. These are people who were getting paid for jobs they didn’t actually do. In other cases, DOGE exposed misuse of federal grants and caught fraudulent billing in Medicare and Medicaid, saving taxpayers a ton of money. Given all this, it’s strange that some government officials are fighting against oversight. If there’s nothing to hide, then what’s the problem? At the end of the day, the real question is: why wouldn’t we want to audit the government to find fraud and waste? Government accountability is crucial, and making sure money is spent properly helps everyone. If programs like healthcare and childcare are really important, then stopping fraud only makes them stronger by keeping money from being misused. Transparency builds public trust, and preventing oversight makes it seem like there’s something shady going on. DOGE isn’t some secretive group trying to take over government systems, it’s simply doing what every taxpayer should want: making sure their money is being used the right way.