New York Attorney General Letitia James led a coalition of 18 other state attorneys general in suing the Trump administration and Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to stop unauthorized access to Americans' sensitive personal data held in U.S. Treasury payment systems. A federal judge granted a temporary restraining order blocking DOGE from accessing the data and requiring immediate destruction of any copies already obtained. A hearing on a motion for preliminary injunction is scheduled for February 14, 2025.
DOGE and affiliated personnel are blocked from accessing Americans' sensitive personal information in Treasury payment systems, must immediately destroy any and all copies of records already obtained, and a hearing on a motion for preliminary injunction is set for February 14, 2025.
In-house legal teams should review all contracts with government agencies or vendors that process sensitive personal or financial data (including payment system data) to ensure strict limits on data access, require explicit written authorization for any data sharing with third parties or government entities, include mandatory data destruction requirements for unauthorized copies, and verify compliance with all applicable federal and state privacy statutes. Clauses related to government access, data sharing authorization, incident response, and data retention should be updated to prevent unauthorized disclosure of personal information.
Entity
Trump Administration and Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)
Industry
OtherOfficial Press Release
https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2025/attorney-general-james-releases-statement-swift-victory-lawsuit-stopping-doges-0
RVDj8P49nsqekb18HqZ813fmA3FI PmlYC106TJQuE=391 ;JSUlJSUlJQ!
https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/links-1.govdelivery.com/CL0/https:*2F*2Fag.ny.gov*2Fsites*2Fdefault*2Ffiles*2Fcourt-filings*2Fstate-of-new-york-et-al-v-trump-et-al-order-2025.pdf/1/01000194e60c8227-07b3a909-087d-45a1-9783-06aefa5a73a8-000000/-RVDj8P49nsqekb18HqZ813fmA3FI-PmlYC106TJQuE=391__;JSUlJSUlJQ!!Ke5ujdWW74OM!_WYwHoytrLD-dp3UQ8D1gA-N2CEqoxhx4J-jmvSc-lAi-8oaEKj6382H_lPWkcj0e1d9QhwEMoOzZZ_QHtIyXJpjhgBY0OQ7qVErgtxGew$
9ajnb15Kwm0fSCXiCE63suDxFVlwlrSSVVvlrg8MMs8=391 ;JSUlJSU!!Ke
https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/links-1.govdelivery.com/CL0/https:*2F*2Fag.ny.gov*2Fpress-release*2F2025*2Fattorney-general-james-leads-multistate-coalition-suing-stop-elon-musk-and-doges/1/01000194e60c8227-07b3a909-087d-45a1-9783-06aefa5a73a8-000000/9ajnb15Kwm0fSCXiCE63suDxFVlwlrSSVVvlrg8MMs8=391__;JSUlJSU!!Ke5ujdWW74OM!_WYwHoytrLD-dp3UQ8D1gA-N2CEqoxhx4J-jmvSc-lAi-8oaEKj6382H_lPWkcj0e1d9QhwEMoOzZZ_QHtIyXJpjhgBY0OQ7qVFYhfX6VQ$
T4cY1YOo OKZMK3 agyc61v814SkdWeY JOcNmeZUro=391 ;JSUlJSU!!Ke
https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/links-1.govdelivery.com/CL0/https:*2F*2Fag.ny.gov*2Fpress-release*2F2025*2Fattorney-general-james-leads-multistate-coalition-suing-stop-elon-musk-and-doges/2/01000194e60c8227-07b3a909-087d-45a1-9783-06aefa5a73a8-000000/T4cY1YOo_OKZMK3_agyc61v814SkdWeY_JOcNmeZUro=391__;JSUlJSU!!Ke5ujdWW74OM!_WYwHoytrLD-dp3UQ8D1gA-N2CEqoxhx4J-jmvSc-lAi-8oaEKj6382H_lPWkcj0e1d9QhwEMoOzZZ_QHtIyXJpjhgBY0OQ7qVHMfiaEug$
New York Attorney General Enforcement Page
https://ag.ny.gov/press-releases
"Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)"
"Trump administration"
"February 8, 2025"
"New York Attorney General Letitia James"
"federal judge in the Southern District of New York granted her motion for a temporary restraining order"
"unauthorized disclosure of Americans’ private information and sensitive data"
$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.