US Supreme Court allows Musk's DOGE broad access to Social Security data
WASHINGTON, June 6 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday permitted billionaire Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, a key player in President Donald Trump's drive to slash the federal workforce, broad access to personal information on millions of Americans in Social Security Administration data systems while a legal challenge plays out.
At the request of the Justice Department, the justices put on hold Maryland-based U.S. District Judge Ellen Hollander's order that had largely blocked DOGE's access to "personally identifiable information" in data such as medical and financial records while litigation proceeds in a lower court. Hollander found that allowing DOGE unfettered access likely would violate a federal privacy law.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sky News
34 minutes ago
- Sky News
Trump warns of 'consequences' if Musk funds rivals - as post claiming president appears in Epstein files removed
Donald Trump has warned of "serious consequences" if Elon Musk funds his political rivals, as a social media post claiming the US president appears in files relating to the disgraced paedophile Jeffrey Epstein has been removed. Speaking on Saturday to Sky News' US partner NBC News, Mr Trump warned of repercussions if Musk funded Democrats who opposed his sweeping budget bill. "If he does, he'll have to pay the consequences for that," Trump said in a phone interview. "He'll have to pay very serious consequences if he does that," he added, not specifying what those consequences would be. 'The truth will come out' It came after the tech billionaire made the allegation on X as he traded blows with the US president in a dramatic public row. In the post, which now appears to have been deleted, Musk said: "@realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. "Mark this post for the future. The truth will come out." He gave no evidence for the claim, which was dismissed by the White House - with the post disappearing from his social media platform by Sunday. Users clicking on the message - first posted on Thursday - were instead greeted with: " page doesn't exist. Try searching for something else." Epstein killed himself in his jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial on charges of sex trafficking minors. JD Vance has his say Amid the fallout, vice president JD Vance said Musk was making a "huge mistake" going after Mr Trump but characterised him as an "emotional guy" who got frustrated. He made the comments in an interview with comedian and podcaster Theo Von - one of the "manosphere" influencers the Trump team targeted to gain votes with young men during the election. "I hope that eventually Elon comes back into the fold. Maybe that's not possible now because he's gone so nuclear," Mr Vance said. He also claimed that such outbursts "happen to everyone", adding: "I've flown off the handle way worse than Elon Musk did in the last 24 hours." 'Big ugly spending bill' Musk and Mr Trump's relationship broke down publicly on Thursday, just days after the Tesla and SpaceX chief executive left his role as a special government employee. In a fiery exchange, Musk posted a series of messages on X criticising the president's signature tax and spending bill as a "big ugly spending bill". President Trump posted on Truth Social, saying Musk had been "wearing thin" and claimed he "asked him to leave" his government position - something Musk denied. Musk then hit back with his claim about the US president appearing in the Epstein files. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt dismissed the comment in a statement. "This is an unfortunate episode from Elon, who is unhappy with the One Big Beautiful Bill because it does not include the policies he wanted," she said. "The president is focused on passing this historic piece of legislation and making our country great again." The spat hit Tesla shares, which closed down 14.3% on Thursday, losing about $150bn (£111bn) in value. In an interview with ABC News, Mr Trump was asked about reports a phone call was scheduled between him and Musk on Friday.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Musk's AI bot used to mock him with image of Tesla on sale
By Elon Musk's own AI bot has been used to troll the billionaire with a picture of Donald Trump's Tesla for sale on the White House lawn. Only months ago, the president had five Tesla cars delivered to the White House lawn after he shared on Truth Social that he was looking to buy one for its full price in solidarity with Musk. Yet now, as tensions escalate between the SpaceX CEO and Trump, many are left wondering if the president will part from his Tesla. Trump had purchased a vehicle from Musk's electric fleet as stocks plummeted and the billionaire was being heavily criticized for his work leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). After a motorcade of Tesla cars rolled up the White House, Trump was seen taking a liking to a red Model S and revealed his longtime aide would be allowed to drive it. He also revealed he had gifted his granddaughter Kai her very own Cybertruck last year. Despite their previously close relationship, they are now well involved in a public slinging match. Musk had hit out at Trump's 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act,' which passed the House last month but is now held up in the Senate. Despite their previously close workings, Musk wrote: 'I'm sorry, but I just can't stand it anymore. This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it.' Musk has also posted on X to claim that the president is plunging the US into financial ruin. He wrote: 'This immense level of overspending will drive America into debt slavery!" In another, Musk asserted: 'Mammoth spending bills are bankrupting America!' Around 2am on Wednesday morning, Musk continued his tirade on his social media platform. He also reposted a series of tweets aligning himself with Republican Sen. Ran Paul of Kentucky, who has been vocal about his opposition to the spending bill. 'I've been pretty consistent in my time in the Senate: I oppose deficit spending—no matter which party is in charge. If we don't get serious about reigning in the debt, the next generation will pay the price,' Paul wrote in an X post that Musk reposted to his page. 'Fiscal responsibility isn't a campaign slogan,' Paul continued. 'It's a duty which I take very seriously.' But Musk's outburst did not end with his qualms about political spending as he also claimed to have been the sole reason Trump won the 2024 election. After Musk sent a raft of insults at Trump, the president fired back on Thursday afternoon. 'Elon was 'wearing thin,' I asked him to leave, I took away his EV Mandate that forced everyone to buy Electric Cars that nobody else wanted (that he knew for months I was going to do!), and he just went CRAZY!' he said on Truth Social. He added in a follow up post: 'The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon's Governmental Subsidies and Contracts. 'I was always surprised that Biden didn't do it!' The pair's spat reached new levels after Musk suggested the President should be impeached and replaced with 40-year-old Vice President JD Vance before dropping a his biggest allegation yet - that Trump was featured in the Epstein files . '@RealDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public,' Musk wrote. 'Have a nice day, DJT!' Jeffrey Epstein is a serial child sexual offender who died in prison in 2019 . Trump pledged to release the files related to Epstein, with Attorney General Pam Bondi releasing some pages in February , but most of that information was already in the public domain. 'Mark this post for the future. The truth will come out,' Musk added. Trump didn't directly respond to Musk's Epstein charge, instead posting what amounted to a shrug on Truth Social, while also continuing to back the 'big, beautiful bill.' 'I don't mind Elon turning against me, but he should have done so months ago,' Trump wrote. 'This is one of the Greatest Bills ever presented to Congress.' Musk's latest online assault of Trump came moments after the president went on a tirade about the billionaire while hosting German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in the Oval Office. 'Elon and I had a great relationship. I don't know if we will any more, I was surprised,' Trump said. The president suggested that Musk was angry - not over the bill ballooning the deficit - but because the Trump administration has pulled back on electric vehicle mandates, which negatively impacted Tesla. Tesla stock took a series of hits during Musk's time leading DOGE, and is now down 17.6 percent amid the pair's feud. Musk himself admitted he was leading his companies with 'great difficulty' amid his DOGE work, as Tesla boycotts, protests and vandalism stirred the US. In March, crowds of hundreds protested the billionaire and his work in DOGE after thousands of federal employees were fired and terminating hundreds of aid contracts and federal leases. Signs that read 'No Dictators in the USA' and 'Burn a Tesla: Save Democracy' were seen in New York City at one protest. In Texas, multiple bombs were found inside a Tesla showroom in Austin. An arsonist used Molotov cocktails to fire bomb five Teslas before firing rounds into the burning vehicles at a dealership in Las Vegas, Nevada in March. The first of the alleged attackers to face charges was named as Adam Matthew Lansky, 41, who is accused of throwing Molotov cocktails at a Tesla dealership in Salem, Oregon on January 20. Lanksy allegedly threw a 'large heavy object through the dealership window', and was armed with a suppressed AR-15 at the time, reports Fox News. On March 7, Daniel Clarke-Pounder, 24, allegedly vandalized a dealership in Charleston, South Carolina, by spray-painting messages reading '[expletive] Trump' and 'Long Live Ukraine' before lighting three charging stations on fire. Trump, at the time, declared that the violence against Tesla was akin to 'domestic terrorism.' It became clear that the bromance between Musk and Trump was over earlier this year as reports emerged regarding clashes the billionaire had with those in the president's inner circle . Upon his exit from DOGE, however, it became more likely that the pair would part ways.
BreakingNews.ie
an hour ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Trump says Musk to face 'very serious consequences' if he funds Democrats
Donald Trump said on Saturday there would be "serious consequences" if Elon Musk funds US Democrats running against Republicans who vote for the president's sweeping tax-cut and spending bill and said his relationship with his billionaire donor is over. In a telephone interview with NBC News, Mr Trump declined to say what those consequences would be, and went on to add that he had not had discussions about whether to investigate Mr Musk. Advertisement Asked if he thought his relationship with the Tesla and SpaceX chief executive was over, Mr Trump said, "I would assume so, yeah." "No," Mr Trump told NBC when asked if he had any desire to repair his relationship with Mr Musk. Mr Musk and Mr Trump began exchanging insults this week, as Mr Musk denounced Mr Trump's bill as a "disgusting abomination". Mr Musk's opposition to the measure is complicating efforts to pass the bill in Congress, where Republicans hold a slim majority in the House of Representatives and Senate. Advertisement Asked if he thought his relationship with the Tesla and SpaceX chief executive was over, Mr Trump said, "I would assume so, yeah." Photo:) The bill narrowly passed the House last month and is now before the Senate, where Mr Trump's fellow Republicans are considering making changes. Nonpartisan analysts estimate the measure would add $2.4 trillion to the US debt over 10 years. World From bros to foes: how the unlikely Trump-Musk rel... Read More Mr Trump said on Saturday he is confident the bill would get passed by the US July 4th Independence Day holiday. "In fact, yeah, people that were, were going to vote for it are now enthusiastically going to vote for it, and we expect it to pass," Mr Trump told NBC. Mr Musk had deleted some social media posts critical of Mr Trump, including one that signalled support for impeaching the president, appearing to seek a de-escalation of their public feud, which exploded on Thursday. Mr Trump late on Friday suggested a review of federal government contracts held by Mr Musk. People who have spoken to Mr Musk said his anger has begun to recede and they think he will want to repair his relationship with Mr Trump.
