Colorado’s attorney general will join a multi-state lawsuit against the Trump Administration over tech billionaire Elon Musk’s access to the federal payment system, via the so-called Department of Government Efficiency.
The White House named the world’s richest man a special government employee and has empowered him to make deep cuts to federal personnel and spending. Musk has not been vetted or approved by Congress, which constitutionally holds the nation’s purse strings. However, his work has met with approval from some Republicans on Capitol Hill.
Phil Weiser, Colorado’s Democratic attorney general, told Colorado Matters he has heard from a record number of constituents worried about the security of federal data and payments. His office spent the first part of this week reviewing legal options.
“A throughline is people’s private information being accessed by individuals. We’re not sure who they are. They’re not appointed government officials and we’re not sure what they’re doing with it, and that level of concern is very high right now.”
Weiser said the lawsuit, to be filed as soon as Friday, is based both on the US constitution and The Administrative Procedure Act. In addition to Colorado, 11 other states with Democratic Attorneys General have signed on.
“Agencies have to act in a way that is reasonable and not arbitrary and capricious,” he noted.
On Thursday, the Justice Department agreed to limit DOGE’s access to Treasury databases, leaving just two ‘special government employees’ with read-alone access. That offer came as part of a separate lawsuit filed by the unions that represent federal employees.
Democrats in Congress are also taking legislative steps to try to curtail DOGE’s access to this system, but those efforts are unlikely to advance in either the Republican-controlled House or Senate.
In the House, Democratic Representatives introduced the Taxpayer Data Protection Act, which would require anyone accessing the Treasury payment system to have a security clearance and cybersecurity training and be free of conflicts of interest. Senate Democrats are expected to introduce similar legislation.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said they support reform and efficiency, but it should be transparent.
“Whatever DOGE is doing, it's not democracy. We know what democracy's like. It's out in the open. It's not secret. You do two-sided debate and then the elected officials make decisions,” he said at a press conference earlier this week. “Democracy doesn't work in the shadows. Democracy doesn't skirt the rule of law. And it doesn't give special privilege to the ideas and needs of a group of ultra-wealthy people at the expense of American families.”
However, Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert told CPR News earlier this week that Musk’s actions are necessary because Congress has failed to rein in spending on its own.
The Treasury-related suit will mark the third legal action Colorado has filed against the Trump Administration. Weiser is also part of lawsuits over the president’s executive order pertaining to birthright citizenship and the recent halt of federal funds to a wide range of recipients.
