A federal judge denied a request by 14 state attorneys general to temporarily bar the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from accessing data at seven federal agencies.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan said the states had not shown how DOGE’s work could cause irreparable harm to the states, The New York Times reported Tuesday (Feb. 18).
The judge said that while DOGE’s activities have caused “considerable uncertainty and confusion,” and while there are questions about DOGE’s lack of congressional oversight, judges can only issue orders to block specific, immediate harms, Reuters reported Tuesday.
The attorneys general filed their lawsuit Thursday (Feb. 13) saying that the actions Musk has taken while leading DOGE can only be taken by an official who has been nominated and confirmed by the Senate; that the court should declare that Musk’s actions have no legal effect; and that the court should order Musk to identify and destroy any data DOGE obtained through unauthorized access, AP reported Thursday.
It was reported Tuesday that a Trump administration official said Musk is an adviser to President Donald Trump and doesn’t work for DOGE.
This distinction has practical and legal implications, including the fact that Musk’s advice to Trump would likely be shielded by executive privilege and that while the Office of Management and Budget — the home of DOGE — is subject to Freedom of Information Act requests, the White House Office is not.
These comments on Musk came from a sworn statement in the lawsuit filed by the state of New Mexico and 13 other Democratic attorneys general.
“Musk has no actual or formal authority to make government decisions himself,” Joshua Fisher, the director of the White House Office of Administration, wrote in a sworn statement. “Mr. Musk can only advise the President and communicate the President’s directives.”
DOGE was created in January as one of Trump’s executive orders, with the goal of boosting efficiency and productivity within the federal government.
“This Executive Order establishes the Department of Government Efficiency to implement the President’s DOGE Agenda, by modernizing Federal technology and software to maximize government efficiency and productivity,” it said.
