Federal Judge Rejects Dems’ Effort To Halt DOGE’s Staffing Purges, Access To Sensitive Data

A federal judge denied a request Tuesday to block Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from firing employees or accessing sensitive data at multiple federal agencies.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan declined the request from 14 Democratic state attorneys general to issue a temporary restraining order that would have blocked DOGE staffers from purging employees or accessing sensitive data systems at the departments of Education, Labor, Health and Human Services, Commerce, Energy, and Transportation as well as the Office of Personnel Management. The decision is a blow to Democratic officials who want to stop President Donald Trump’s efforts to trim the federal workforce.

“In these circumstances, it must be indisputable that this court acts within the bounds of its authority,” Chutkan wrote in her ruling. “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 current record does not meet that standard.”

A TRO is a temporary restraining order.

The attorneys general sued Musk last Thursday, arguing his involvement in the federal government violated the Constitution’s Appointments Clause, which requires Senate confirmation for presidential appointments. Chutkan said that the plaintiffs “raise a colorable Appointments Clause claim,” but her opinion “begins and ends with irreparable harm.”

New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez filed the lawsuit, saying Musk’s role in the Trump administration is a “threat to democracy” and an “unlawful delegation of executive power.”