New York Attorney General Letitia James led a 19-state coalition to secure a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration from granting Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) unauthorized access to the Treasury Department’s central payment system and Americans’ sensitive personal information, including Social Security numbers and bank account details. A prior temporary restraining order required immediate destruction of all records already obtained by DOGE and Musk. The lawsuit remains ongoing to permanently prevent unauthorized access to private consumer data.
Preliminary injunction barring the Trump administration from allowing DOGE or Elon Musk to access the Treasury’s central payment system and Americans’ sensitive personal information while the lawsuit proceeds. A prior temporary restraining order required destruction of all copies of records already obtained by DOGE/Musk.
In-house legal teams should review all contracts with government agencies, vendors handling sensitive personal information (including Social Security numbers and bank account details), and entities with access to central payment systems to ensure robust access control provisions, explicit prohibitions on unauthorized data access, and mandatory data destruction clauses. Teams should also verify that contracts require compliance with court-ordered injunctions restricting data access and include audit rights to confirm only vetted, authorized personnel access sensitive data. Any clauses permitting broad government access to consumer data without explicit safeguards should be updated to align with this injunction’s restrictions.
Entity
Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Trump Administration
Industry
OtherOfficial Press Release
https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2025/attorney-general-james-stops-elon-musk-and-doge-accessing-americans-private
state of new york et al v donald trump opinion and order 202
https://ag.ny.gov/sites/default/files/court-filings/state-of-new-york-et-al-v-donald-trump-opinion-and-order-2025_0.pdf
New York Attorney General Enforcement Page
https://ag.ny.gov/press-releases
"Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)"
"Trump administration"
"unauthorized access to Americans’ private information"
"unauthorized access to the Treasury Department’s central payment system, and therefore to individual Americans’ and states’ sensitive information, including social security numbers and bank account information"
"February 21, 2025"
"New York Attorney General Letitia James"
$5.0M
New York Attorney General Letitia James secured a settlement with cryptocurrency platform Uphold HQ, Inc. for misleading investors by promoting Cred’s fraudulent CredEarn investment product as a safe, reliable savings option when it involved risky loans to uncreditworthy borrowers. Uphold will pay $5 million to harmed investors, redirect $545,189 in Cred bankruptcy proceeds to affected customers, and implement enhanced due diligence policies for third-party investment products. Uphold must also register as a broker with the Office of the Attorney General.
New York Attorney General Letitia James led a bipartisan coalition of 24 state attorneys general, Puerto Rico, and New York City in sending letters to nine major credit card companies and payment processors urging them to block transactions facilitating illegal vaping product sales. The coalition cites federal and state laws prohibiting unauthorized e-cigarette sales, particularly to youth, and requests collaboration to prevent payment networks from processing such transactions. No enforcement penalties or actions were imposed as part of this initiative.
New York Attorney General Letitia James and Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, leading a coalition of 40 state attorneys general, secured a jury verdict on April 15, 2026, against Live Nation and Ticketmaster for maintaining illegal monopolies in the live events industry. The jury found the companies engaged in anticompetitive practices including exclusive venue contracts, forcing competitors out of the market, and limiting artist performance choices, resulting in overcharged consumers. Remedies, including potential financial penalties and a monopoly breakup, are pending court approval.
New York Attorney General Letitia James, joined by 16 other states, sued the U.S. Department of Education over a new survey requiring colleges to submit extensive student data, arguing it violates the Administrative Procedure Act and threatens student privacy. The lawsuit seeks to block the mandate and prevent penalties for non-compliance.
A bipartisan coalition of 35 state attorneys general led by New York Attorney General Letitia James sent a demand letter to xAI on January 26, 2026, requiring the company to address its Grok chatbot’s creation and sharing of nonconsensual intimate images, including child sexual abuse material. The AGs demand that xAI implement safeguards to prevent Grok from generating such content, delete existing harmful content, suspend offending users, and give X users control over whether their content can be edited by Grok. No monetary penalty has been imposed as this is a pre-enforcement demand for action.
New York Attorney General Letitia James sent a letter to Instacart demanding information about its use of algorithmic pricing, after a study found users were charged up to 23% more for identical products. The AG warned that Instacart’s pricing disclosures are non-compliant with New York’s Algorithmic Pricing Disclosure Act, which requires prominent notices near product prices when personal data is used to set prices. Instacart must provide details on its pricing experiments, automated tools, and compliance efforts with the state’s disclosure requirements.