A federal judge on Friday granted an extension of an order barring Elon Musk’s government austerity squad from access to payment systems at the U.S. Treasury Department. Yet another judge concluded that Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is entitled to view records from the Health and Labor departments, along with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Musk’s DOGE plan, initiated in the presidency of Donald Trump last month, would end wasteful government expenditures. After Trump’s historic reorganization of federal bureaucracies that involved cutting jobs by thousands last Friday, Musk, who heads Tesla as well, was also entrusted with initiating this expense-reduction campaign.
In Manhattan, U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas maintained the temporary prohibition on DOGE’s use of Treasury payment systems, first put in place on Saturday. The systems process trillions of dollars’ worth of transactions. During a court hearing, she declined to decide on a motion by 19 Democratic state attorneys general for a preliminary injunction that would extend the prohibition.
The attorneys general contend that Musk’s staff has no legal right to penetrate the Treasury’s sensitive financial networks, which have personal data about millions of Americans. They further raised concerns that DOGE’s participation would interrupt funding for necessary services like health clinics and preschools.
At the same time, in Washington, U.S. District Judge John Bates rejected a request by unions and nonprofits to temporarily enjoin DOGE from being able to see records at the Labor Department, Health and Human Services Department, and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. In a written opinion, Bates said that it was probable the government was right to determine DOGE an agency, which enables it to detail workers to other departments. But he characterized the problem as a “close question,” noting that the government does not define DOGE as an agency when it would put it under open records requests.
Bates, who was appointed by then-President George W. Bush, denounced this discrepancy, saying, “DOGE was a ‘Goldilocks entity’: not an agency when it is burdensome but an agency when it is convenient.” He invited proposals for a schedule to decide whether a longer-term preliminary injunction should be granted.
Musk responded to the decision by reposting a post on X that described the ruling as a “HUGE win!”
In another hearing Friday, U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss heard a motion by the University of California Student Association to continue a temporary injunction barring DOGE from accessing Department of Education systems. The students contended that access would infringe on privacy and administrative procedure statutes. Obama appointee Moss said he would make a ruling by Monday.
The Trump administration justified DOGE’s access, contending that it was necessary to combat waste, fraud, and abuse in student loan programs. But Moss questioned the breadth of these assertions, asking a Justice Department lawyer, “What does that mean, fraud, waste and abuse?” He went on, “I expect if you ask Elon Musk, he would say the whole Department of Education is waste.”
Piling up the legal troubles, a group of Democratic state attorneys general in coalition brought their suit against Trump, Musk, and DOGE on Thursday. The suit does away with the appointment of Musk as unconstitutional and requests a court order by the federal court restricting him from reaching government information, terminating contracts, or making hires.
In a hearing of this case, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan in Washington seemed doubtful of the states’ plea but gave no indication of when she would rule.
The wider legal environment continues to be difficult for Trump’s austerity agenda, as courts have rejected numerous initiatives of his administration. The majority of the challenged programs seem to target areas that are not favored by political conservatives, further fueling legal and political wars over the administration’s reorganization efforts.
