Washington – A federal judge on Tuesday declined to prevent Elon Musk and the White House’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, from accessing data systems at seven federal agencies and firing or putting employees on leave.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan denied 14 Democratic-led states’ request for a temporary restraining order as they seek to challenge Musk’s actions. The states have argued that Musk, who the White House refers to as a special government employee, has unchecked authority and is violating the Appointments Clause of the Constitution.
Chutkan, in a 10-page decision, determined that the states had failed to demonstrate that they would suffer imminent, irreparable harm if relief was not provided.
“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,” she wrote in her argument. “But the ‘possibility’ that defendants may take actions that irreparably harm plaintiffs ‘is not enough.'”
Chutkan did, however, add that the states’ claim that Musk’s actions violate the Appointments Clause has “serious implications.” She cited Supreme Court precedent to argue that these are the “executive abuses” that the constitutional provision is intended to prevent.
“Musk has not been nominated by the president nor confirmed by the U.S. Senate, as constitutionally required for officers who exercise ‘significant authority pursuant to the laws of the United States,'” according to the statement. “Bypassing this ‘significant structural safeguard of the constitutional scheme,’ Musk has rapidly taken steps to fundamentally reshape the Executive Branch.”
On his first day in office, President Trump issued an executive order establishing the Musk-led DOGE and tasked the agency with reducing government size and federal spending.
Since then, DOGE employees have been assigned to more than a dozen agencies to carry out Mr. Trump’s agenda. In a court filing on Monday, the White House sought to clarify that Musk is not the formal head of DOGE, but rather serves as a senior White House adviser.
DOGE’s actions sparked concern among Democrats and labour unions representing federal employees after it was revealed that Musk and his team had accessed government systems.
Musk has publicly called for entire agencies to be “deleted,” and DOGE has claimed on social media that it is responsible for contract cancellations.
In response to DOGE’s efforts, several states and unions have filed federal lawsuits seeking to prevent the task force from accessing information and payment systems.
The case before Chutkan was filed last week, alleging that Musk’s actions violate the Appointments Clause and go beyond the scope of his authority.
Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX and the owner of X, is a “unelected, unconfirmed government official” who is “exercising unprecedented executive authority,” according to a court filing.
“An individual accountable only to the president — if he answers to anyone at all — is exercising apparently limitless power within the Executive Branch,” the states said in their complaint.
“Mr. Musk’s conduct has wreaked havoc on the federal government and caused mass chaos and confusion for state and local governments, federal employees, the American public, and people around the world who depend on the United States for leadership and support.”
The states requested that Chutkan issue a temporary restraining order that would prevent Musk and DOGE from accessing data systems at the Office of Personnel Management and the Departments of Education, Labour, Health and Human Services, Energy, Transportation, and Commerce. They also requested that he not terminate, furlough, or place any federal employees at those agencies on involuntary leave.
The Justice Department, on the other hand, argued that the states were unable to identify any imminent, irreparable harm — one of the four factors required to obtain relief — that justified the court’s intervention.
The Trump administration also claimed that the relief sought by the states was too broad and would cover anyone associated with DOGE, including Mr. Trump and Senate-confirmed administration officials.
In a court filing, Justice Department lawyers stated that the states’ assertion that Musk has the authority to make decisions for the government is “wrong,” and “rests entirely on conflating influence and authority.”
“An advisor does not become an officer simply because the officer takes his advice. And, despite their lengthy rhetoric, the states do not cite a single example of Elon Musk (or anyone at USDS) being given formal authority to exercise the sovereign power of the United States,” they wrote, referring to the entity’s formal name, the U.S. DOGE Service.
According to a declaration filed by Joshua Fisher, director of the White House’s Office of Administration, Musk is both a senior advisor to the president and a special government employee.
He has “no actual or formal authority to make government decisions himself,” Fisher stated in the filing. The declaration also states that Musk is not the administrator of DOGE.
Chutkan held a hearing on Monday to consider the states’ request, and she appeared sceptical that the states had demonstrated that Musk and DOGE’s actions would cause them immediate harm.
According to her, a “generalised fear that this is going to happen, even if it looks like it is likely to happen,” is insufficient to justify a temporary restraining order.
“I am not seeing it so far,” Chutkan told a lawyer for the states, adding that they were essentially seeking a “prophylactic” temporary restraining order, which she said was “not allowed.”
Anjana Samant, a lawyer for the state of New Mexico, which is leading the lawsuit, described DOGE’s actions as a “one-of-a-kind situation.”
The country has never seen “this type of wielding of power in this way,” she stated.
Chutkan stated that the alleged actions of Musk and DOGE are “concerning” and “troubling.” She stated that mass firings of thousands of federal employees are “not a small or common thing” and that Musk has not been nominated by the president or confirmed by the Senate.
According to Chutkan, Musk is a private citizen tasked with directing DOGE, an organisation that has access to “the entire workings of the federal government.” According to the states, the task force has fired employees, cut contracts, and terminated programs, “all without apparently any congressional oversight.”
“The allegation is not that agencies can not manage their own workforce,” she told me. “The allegation is that DOGE enters these agencies, accesses data, fires employees, and terminates contracts. They essentially run the government. “That is the problem.”
However, Harry Graver, a Justice Department lawyer, stated that “there is not a single instance of Musk or USDS commanding these actions,” which are instead carried out by high-ranking agency officials.
In a filing submitted Monday following the hearing, Justice Department lawyers reiterated that the Trump administration is “not aware of any source of legal authority granting USDS or the U.S. DOGE Service Temporary Organisation the power to order personnel actions at any of the agencies listed above.”
Chutkan oversaw Mr. Trump’s federal prosecution, which was brought by former special counsel Jack Smith in Washington, D.C. The president faced four counts stemming from what prosecutors claimed was an illegal plot to disrupt the transfer of presidential power following the 2020 election.
Chutkan granted Smith’s request to dismiss the case after Mr. Trump won the presidential election in November, citing a Justice Department policy prohibiting the prosecution of a sitting president.
