Labor union activists rally in support of federal workers during a protest on Capitol Hill in Washington, US, February 11, 2025. Picture: Reuters, Craig Hudson
By Jack Queen and Tom Hals
NEW YORK - A judge on Tuesday declined to immediately block Elon Musk’s government efficiency department from directing firings of federal workers or accessing databases, but said the case raises questions about Musk’s apparent unchecked authority as a top deputy to President Donald Trump.
Washington-based US District Judge Tanya Chutkan denied - for now - a request by more than a dozen states for a judicial order barring the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, from accessing computer systems at seven federal agencies or purging government workers while litigation plays out.
Musk, the world's wealthiest person, spearheads DOGE, which has taken the lead role in carrying out the Republican president's plans for downsizing and overhauling the federal government.
In her decision, Chutkan wrote that the states "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." But the judge said the states had not shown why they were entitled to an immediate restraining order.
The lawsuit sought to bar DOGE from accessing information systems or firing employees at the departments of Labor, Education, Health and Human Services, Energy, Transportation and Commerce, and at the Office of Personnel Management.
Chutkan could eventually rule in favour of the states but said in her ruling that their request for an emergency court order was too broad and speculative.
Representatives for the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, one of the officials who brought the case, said in a statement that her office will "continue to fight in court to protect the rights of all Arizonans from unconstitutional executive overreach."
Representatives for the other attorneys general did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
DOGE has swept through federal agencies, slashing thousands of jobs and dismantling various programs, since Trump returned to office last month and put Musk in charge of rooting out what they see as wasteful spending as part of the president's dramatic overhaul of government.
The states argued that Musk wields the kind of power that can be exercised only by an officer of the government who has been nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate under language in the US Constitution called the Appointments Clause. They said DOGE itself has not been authorised by Congress and that its actions put the states' ability to carry out educational and other programs at risk.
The lawsuit accused Musk's team of unlawfully accessing data at federal agencies and directing a purge of some of the country's 2.3 million federal workers. It was filed by more than a dozen states and announced by state attorneys general from New Mexico, Michigan and Arizona.
"The court is aware that DOGE’s unpredictable actions have resulted in considerable uncertainty and confusion for Plaintiffs and many of their agencies and residents. But the 'possibility' that defendants may take actions that irreparably harm plaintiffs is not enough," Chutkan said.
Chutkan, who was appointed by Democratic former President Barack Obama, also oversaw a criminal case against Trump over his efforts to reverse his loss in the 2020 US election, which the Justice Department dropped after he won in November.
Around 20 lawsuits have been filed in various federal courts challenging Musk's authority, which have led to mixed results.
US District Judge Jeannette Vargas in New York extended a temporary block on DOGE on Friday that prevented Musk's team from accessing Treasury systems responsible for trillions of dollars of payments.
But on Monday, Washington-based US District Judge Randolph Moss declined to block the US Department of Education from giving DOGE access to its internal systems, which contain federal student financial aid information concerning millions of Americans.
Most of the judges handling DOGE cases have not yet issued rulings.
- REUTERS