(The Center Square) – Litigation against Republican President Donald Trump’s administration, this time related to DOGE, has been joined for a third time in less than three weeks by Democratic Attorney General Jeff Jackson of North Carolina.
New York Attorney General Letitia James, a fellow Democrat, led the lawsuit and Saturday a federal judge blocked Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency from accessing Treasury Department records. U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer granted a preliminary injunction requested by James and other state attorneys general.
The plaintiffs say federal law is violated by the Trump administration allowing Musk’s agency to access the central payment system of the Treasury Department. A hearing is set for Friday.
The lawsuit charges Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent of changing department policy favoring DOGE. James and colleagues say privacy of information on states, veterans, retirees and taxpayers is at risk.
“The court recognized this federal overreach for what it is – a violation of federal law and a threat to people’s privacy and security,” Jackson said. “It is critical that government spending is transparent, and taxpayer dollars are spent efficiently, but this process has clearly been against the law. For now, DOGE can’t access the treasury system and the data it holds – including Social Security numbers. We’re going to keep fighting this case to uphold the longstanding federal protections of Americans’ confidential financial data.”
On Jan. 21, Jackson joined the suit of New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin against the Trump administration on the issue of birthright citizenship within the 14th Amendment. On Jan. 28, Jackson joined the suit of James against the president and his administration on the issue of freezing federal government grants and funding.
Monday, Jackson joined the suit of Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell against the Trump administration that seeks to stop cuts to medical research grants funded by the National Institutes of Health. That pushes his total litigations naming North Carolina against the administration to four in 21 days.
On Nov. 5 in North Carolina, Trump won his election over Democrat Kamala Harris by 183,048 votes of 5,699,141 cast. He won 78 of 100 counties. Jackson won his election that day over Republican Dan Bishop by 159,549 votes of 5,590,371 cast; Bishop won 76 counties.
