By Tom Hals
(Reuters) – A federal judge is expected to rule on Tuesday on a request by 13 U.S. states to temporarily block Elon Musk and the government downsizing team known as DOGE set up by President Donald Trump from accessing information systems at several federal agencies.
Washington-based U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan said at a hearing on Monday that she would try to rule within 24 hours on an emergency request by the Democratic state attorneys general seeking to block Musk and DOGE from accessing government systems and firing employees at seven agencies.
The judge sounded skeptical at Monday’s hearing that the attorneys general had met the legal standard needed to grant a temporary restraining order.
DOGE has swept through federal agencies slashing thousands of jobs and dismantling various programs since Trump returned to office last month and put Musk in charge of rooting out wasteful spending as part of the Republican president’s dramatic overhaul of government.
The state attorneys general who brought the case want to bar Musk’s DOGE, or Department of Government Efficiency, from accessing information systems at the departments of labor, education, health and human services, energy, transportation and commerce, and at the Office of Personnel Management.
They also asked Chutkan, who was appointed by Democratic former President Barack Obama, to prevent Musk and his DOGE team members from firing federal employees or putting them on leave.
The states have argued that Musk wields the kind of power that can be exercised only by an officer of the government who has been nominated by the president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate under language in the U.S. Constitution called the Appointments Clause. The states also have said DOGE itself has not been authorized by Congress.
Around 20 lawsuits have been filed in various federal courts challenging Musk’s authority, which have led to differing results.
On Monday, Washington-based U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss declined to issue a temporary restraining order sought by the University of California Student Association to prevent the Department of Education from disclosing information to individuals affiliated with DOGE.
Moss, an appointee of Obama, said the students failed to show they would suffer irreparable harm if their information is accessed by the DOGE team members, who are obligated to follow privacy regulations. The judge also noted that any students who suffered harm from improper disclosure of their information could seek monetary damages afterward.
(Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware and Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Will Dunham)
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