Musk’s IRS Data Access Disputed by Tax Rights Group, Unions (1)

A group of taxpayers and unions is suing the Trump administration alleging Elon Musk‘s government efficiency agency shouldn’t be given access to the tax records of millions of US citizens.

The lawsuit comes days after the IRS circulated a draft memo setting up DOGE’s access to the records.

The lawsuit, filed Monday in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, says that the Department of Government Efficiency doesn’t have the authority to access the “highly sensitive data” of hundreds of millions of Americans. Giving DOGE the records will violate the Tax Reform Act, the Privacy Act, and the Administrative Procedure Act, it says.

Access to IRS records is part of a larger campaign by DOGE and the Trump Administration to access highly sensitive information systems from multiple federal agencies unilaterally and dismantle them, the complaint says.

DOGE, led by Musk, has faced similar data access challenges. A federal judge temporarily limited access to the US Treasury Department’s payment system on Feb. 6 following a group of unions’ claims that the agency illegally shared their members’ info with DOGE. A federal judge also declined to block DOGE access to data on Feb. 14 from the Department of Labor, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Consumer Financial Protection Board.

The Center for Taxpayer Rights, Main Street Alliance, the National Federation of Federal Employees, and Communications Workers of America, AFL-CIO brought the lawsuit.

The IRS didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Democracy Forward Foundation represents the plaintiffs.

The case is Ctr. for Taxpayer Rights v. IRS, D.D.C., No. 1:25-cv-00457, complaint filed 2/17/25.