A federal judge has temporarily barred President Donald Trump’s political appointees—potentially including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent—from accessing Treasury Department data, a roadblock in the administration’s attempt to cut government waste and abuse.
The details: On Saturday, Judge Paul Engelmayer—an Obama appointee—responded to a lawsuit brought by 19 Democrat attorneys general, arguing that allowing Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) violates federal law because he has “full access” to U.S. Treasury payments.
- Englemayer’s ruling halts DOGE’s access until at least February 14, when a hearing is scheduled.
- The lawsuit was spearheaded by anti-Trump New York Attorney General Letitia James, who previously sued Trump in 2022 for “financial fraud”—a case that is currently in appeals.
Zoom in: The lawsuit specifically targets a new policy handed down by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, which expanded access to the department’s payment system known as the Bureau of Fiscal Services (BFS).
- This allowed Trump political appointees like Elon Musk to examine the payments made by the Treasury, to look for wasteful spending.
- DOGE’s mission is to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse within our federal budget. To date, it has identified $50B in fraudulent entitlement payments — and estimates the total could exceed $100B per year.
Not so fast: Despite the judge’s sweeping — and potentially unconstitutional — check on the powers of the executive branch, the Treasury Department has clearly stated that DOGE only has access to “read-only” files — and cannot affect, edit, or terminate any expenditures.
Out of bounds: Some legal minds believe the judge’s ruling is so sweeping it could even bar Treasury Sec. Bessent from accessing department data. Federalist senior legal correspondent Margot Cleveland said:
- “The judge’s order is rightly being attacked as, at worse, barring the secretary of the Treasury from accessing the Treasury Department’s databases and at best, at being hopelessly ambiguous and confusing.”
Elon Musk responded to the ruling, writing on X: “A corrupt judge protecting corruption. He needs to be impeached NOW!”
The last word goes to Vice President J.D. Vance, who responded to the ruling, writing on X:
- “If a judge tried to tell a general how to conduct a military operation, that would be illegal. If a judge tried to command the attorney general in how to use her discretion as a prosecutor, that’s also illegal. Judges aren’t allowed to control the executive’s legitimate power.”
Democrats spent the law four years using lawfare to try and stop Trump from being re-elected. It failed. Now they’re running the same play. Hopefully, it leads to the same result.
