NEW YORK — A New York judge relaxed a ban she’d put on Elon Musk’s  preventing it from accessing sensitive Treasury Department information related to millions of Americans.

FILE - Elon Musk attends the finals for the NCAA wrestling championship, Saturday, March 22, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, file)
Judge Jeannette A. Vargas said in a written opinion late Friday that one DOGE worker, Ryan Wunderly, can access sensitive payment and data systems if he completes training that Treasury employees typically go through before given such access and submits a financial disclosure report.
The ruling came in a lawsuit brought by 19 Democratic state attorneys general who sued over privacy issues amid DOGE's assertion that it was working to modernize Treasury payment systems.
The lawsuit contended that Musk’s ‘DOGE’ team was composed of “political appointees†who should not have access to Treasury records handled by “civil servants†specially trained in protecting such sensitive information as Social Security and bank account numbers.
People are also reading…
Vargas said Wunderly will be able to access payment records, payment systems and any other Treasury Department data systems containing personally identifiable information and confidential financial information of payees.
Vargas put the ban in place two months ago.
Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency  to find and eliminate wasteful government spending. Its access to Treasury records and its inspection of government agencies has led some to criticize Musk while his supporters praise the idea of reining in bloated government finances.
Photos: Elon Musk through the years

FILE - In this Oct. 20, 2000 file photo, PayPal Chief Executive Officer Peter Thiel, left, and founder Elon Musk, right, pose with the PayPal logo at corporate headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)

FILE - In this Dec. 9, 2008 file photo, Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk stands in front a Tesla sports car at a Tesla showroom in Menlo Park, Calif. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, file)

FILE - In this March 26, 2009 file photo, Tesla Motors CEO, Chairman and Product Architect Elon Musk speaks at the unveiling of the Tesla Model S all-electric 5-door sedan, in Hawthorne, Calif., Thursday, March 26, 2009. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)

In this July 21, 2009 photo, shows Tesla CEO Elon Musk talking about the lawsuit at Tesla headquarters in San Carlos, Calif., Tuesday, July 21, 2009. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

In this Tuesday, July 21, 2009 photo, Tesla CEO Elon Musk poses at Tesla headquarters in San Carlos, Calif. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

President Barack Obama walks to look at the Flacon 9 launch vehicle with SpaceX CEO Elon Musk at Kennedy Space Center Thursday, April 15, 2010.(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Calif. Gov., Arnold Schwarzenegger, right, Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda, left, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, center, at Tesla headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif., Thursday, May 20, 2010. Tesla and Toyota officials announce partnership. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors, poses with a Tesla car in front of Nasdaq following the electric automaker’s initial public offering, Tuesday, June, 29, 2010, in New York. The company plans to trade on the Nasdaq stock exchange under the ticker "TSLA." (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

Elon Musk, center, CEO of Tesla Motors, raises his hand at the Nasdaq opening bell to celebrate the electric automaker’s initial public offering, Tuesday, June, 29, 2010 in New York. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

Elon Musk, co-founder, chief executive and product architect of Tesla Motors, poses at the premiere of the documentary film "Revenge of the Electric Car," Friday, Oct. 21, 2011, at Tesla Motors in Los Angeles. The film is director Chris Paine's follow-up to his 2006 documentary, "Who Killed the Electric Car?" (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

SpaceX CEO and Chief Designer Elon Musk walks in a procession after delivering the commencement speech for Caltech graduates in Pasadena, Calif. Friday, June 15, 2012. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk gives the opening keynote at the SXSW Interactive Festival on Saturday, March 9, 2013 in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Jack Plunkett)

FILE - In this May 29, 2014 file photo, Elon Musk, CEO and CTO of SpaceX, introduces the SpaceX Dragon V2 spaceship at the SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors Inc., introduces the Model X car at the company's headquarters Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2015, in Fremont, Calif. Musk said the Model X sets a new bar for automotive engineering, with unique features like rear falcon-wing doors, which open upward, and a driver's door that opens on approach and closes itself when the driver is inside. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Elon Musk, CEO & Chief Product Architect of Tesla Moters, attends the premiere of "Racing Extinction" during the 2015 Sundance Film Festival on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2015, in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Arthur Mola/Invision/AP)

SpaceX founder Elon Musk speaks during the 67th International Astronautical Congress in Guadalajara, Mexico, Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2016. In a receptive audience full of space buffs, Musk said he envisions 1,000 passenger ships flying en masse to Mars, 'Battlestar Galactica' style. He calls it the Mars Colonial fleet, and he says it could become reality within a century. Musk's goal is to establish a full-fledged city on Mars and thereby make humans a multi-planetary species. (AP Photo/Refugio Ruiz)

President Donald Trump talks with Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, center, and White House chief strategist Steve Bannon during a meeting with business leaders in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, Friday, Feb. 3, 2017. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Grimes, left, and Elon Musk attend The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination exhibition on Monday, May 7, 2018, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

SpaceX founder and chief executive Elon Musk speaks after announcing Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa as the first private passenger on a trip around the moon, Monday, Sept. 17, 2018, in Hawthorne, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Elon Musk, co-founder and chief executive officer of Tesla Inc., speaks during an unveiling event for the Boring Co. Hawthorne test tunnel in Hawthorne, Calif., on Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2018. Musk has unveiled his underground transportation tunnel, allowing invited guests to take some of the first rides ever on the tech entrepreneur's solution to "soul-destroying traffic." (Robyn Beck/Pool Photo via AP)

Tesla CEO Elon Musk jokingly motions to kick before introducing the Model Y at Tesla's design studio Thursday, March 14, 2019, in Hawthorne, Calif. The Model Y may be Tesla's most important product yet as it attempts to expand into the mainstream and generate enough cash to repay massive debts that threaten to topple the Palo Alto, Calif., company. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, speaks during the Global Citizen Awards dinner, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Michelle Farsi)

Elon Musk speaks as part of a campaign town hall in support of Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump in Folsom, Pa., Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, right, and Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, attend a campaign event with Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at the Butler Farm Show, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Elon Musk jumps on the stage as Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

FILE - Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump listens as Elon Musk speaks during a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)

FILE - Elon Musk jumps on the stage as Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

Elon Musk talks with a child as he speaks as part of a campaign town hall in support of Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump in Folsom, Pa., Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)