A federal judge has issued a ruling blocking President Donald Trump’s administration and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from accessing Treasury Department data and records.
U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer granted a temporary restraining order on Saturday following a lawsuit filed by attorneys general from 19 states, including New York, California, and Illinois. The lawsuit challenges a new policy introduced by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, which expands access to the Bureau of Fiscal Services’ payment systems for political appointees and special government employees.
“This Court, sitting in its Part I capacity, this evening received an application for a temporary restraining order filed by the Attorneys General of the 19 States identified as plaintiffs above,” Engelmayer wrote. “The States’ lawsuit challenges a new policy by the United States Department of the Treasury, at the direction of the President and the Secretary of the Treasury, which, as alleged, expands access to the payment systems of the Bureau of Fiscal Services (BFS) to political appointees and ‘special government employees.’”
The states argue that the policy violates the Administrative Procedure Act, exceeds the Treasury Department’s statutory authority, and breaches the constitutional separation of powers and the Take Care Clause. Engelmayer’s ruling temporarily halts the policy, restricting access to Treasury records, payment systems, and other sensitive financial data exclusively to civil servants with a direct job-related need.
Musk also offered a defense of the access in a social media post over the weekend, saying that DOGE and the Treasury Department “jointly agreed” to requirements involving government payments.
“The above super obvious and necessary changes are being implemented by existing, long-time career government employees, not anyone from @DOGE. It is ridiculous that these changes didn’t exist already!” Musk added.
The case will now be handled by U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas, an appointee of former President Joe Biden.
