- A federal judge rejected a bid to block Elon Musk’s DOGE from federal data access.
- Democratic state AGs filed a lawsuit against Musk and President Donald Trump last week.
- In her ruling, the judge wrote that Musk’s power in the administration appears to be “unchecked.”
In a win for the Trump administration, a Washington, DC, federal judge on Tuesday rejected a bid by a group of state attorneys general to block Elon Musk’s DOGE from accessing data systems across seven federal agencies.
US District Judge Tanya Chutkan wrote in a written order that the more than a dozen Democratic attorneys general who filed a lawsuit against Musk and President Donald Trump “have not carried their burden of showing that they will suffer imminent, irreparable harm absent a temporary restraining order.”
In her 10-page ruling, Chutkan, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama, wrote that the court is “aware” that the Department of Government Efficiency’s “unpredictable actions have resulted in considerable uncertainty and confusion for Plaintiffs and many of their agencies and residents.”
Even though Chutkan also said in the ruling that Musk’s power in the Trump administration appears to be “unchecked,” she said she could not issue the temporary restraining order sought by the band of AGs.
“Plaintiffs legitimately call into question what appears to be the unchecked authority of an unelected individual and an entity that was not created by Congress and over which it has no oversight,” Chutkan wrote.
“In these circumstances, it must be indisputable that this court acts within the bounds of its authority. Accordingly, it cannot issue a TRO, especially one as wide-ranging as Plaintiffs request, without clear evidence of imminent, irreparable harm to these Plaintiffs,” the judge wrote. “The current record does not meet that standard.”
Last week, the state attorneys general filed the lawsuit, accusing the tech billionaire Musk of an “unlawful assault” on the federal government through his work with DOGE.
The AGs alleged in the lawsuit that Trump has given “virtually unchecked authority” to Musk in violation of the US Constitution.
“As a result, he has transformed a minor position that was formerly responsible for managing government websites into a designated agent of chaos without limitation and in violation of the separation of powers,” the lawsuit said.
Since Trump was sworn into office last month for a second presidential term, his administration, along with Musk, has wasted no time in its efforts to shrink the federal government.
The lawsuit alleged that Musk’s “seemingly limitless and unchecked power to strip the government of its workforce and eliminate entire departments with the stroke of a pen or click of a mouse would have been shocking to those who won this country’s independence.”
The attorneys general said in the lawsuit that Musk’s “officer-level” actions are unconstitutional since the SpaceX and Tesla CEO has not been nominated or confirmed by the Senate.
