On Tuesday, a federal judge declined to immediately prevent the Department of Government Efficiency and billionaire Elon Musk from accessing government data systems or taking part in employee layoffs.
Although U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan acknowledged that there are valid concerns regarding Musk’s power, she concluded that there isn’t enough proof of the kind of serious legal injury to support a temporary restraining order.
The ruling was made in a case that 14 Democratic states—including Oregon—filed to contest DOGE’s right to access private government information. Musk is exercising the kind of authority that the Constitution states may only be possessed by persons who are elected or confirmed by the Senate, according to the attorneys general’s argument.
For its part, the Trump administration has insisted that agency heads are making the layoffs and claimed that Musk isn’t personally managing DOGE’s daily operations, even if he publicly applauds the initiative.
Despite an increasing number of lawsuits alleging DOGE is breaking the law, DOGE has accessed computer systems across several agencies with President Donald Trump’s approval, looking into budgets and looking for what he describes as waste, fraud, and abuse.
Arizona and New Mexico are among the states in the coalition, and Chutkan acknowledged their worries.
She noted that there is a great deal of doubt and bewilderment as a result of DOGE’s erratic actions. They have valid concerns about Musk’s seeming unbridled power and the absence of congressional supervision for DOGE, and they might be able to prove them in the future.
Judges can only grant orders to stop specific, imminent damages, she found, and it is yet unclear exactly how DOGE’s work would effect the states.
Formerly in charge of the now-dismissed criminal election interference investigation against Trump in Washington, D.C., Chutkan was chosen by Democratic President Barack Obama.
— Associated Press, Lindsy Whitehurst
