A federal judge issued a ruling on Saturday, blocking Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from having access to Treasury Department data and records.
U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer explained in his order that the court had “received an application for a temporary restraining order filed by” attorney generals in 19 states.
Engelmayer explained the lawsuit from attorney generals in New York, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin “challenges a new policy by the United States Department of Treasury,” which comes at the direction of President Donald Trump and Scott Bessent, the Secretary of the Treasury.
The new policy “expands access to the payment systems of the Bureau of Fiscal Services” to political appointees within the Trump administration, and “special government employees,” Engelmayer added.
“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.'”
New York Judge Paul Engelmayer just forbade all political appointees — including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent — from accessing Dept. of Treasury data, all based on Blueanon conspiracy theories!!
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) February 8, 2025
Those theories couldn't be challenged because the order was EX PARTE — meaning…
Engelmayer added that the states in the lawsuit contend that the new policy “violates the Administrative Procedure Act” in several ways, noting that it “exceeds the statutory authority of the Department of the Treasury; violates the separation of powers doctrine; and violates the Take Care Clause of the United States Constitution.”
The court order from Engelmayer continues to note that the defendants; Trump and Bessent, are “restrained from granting access to any Treasury Department record, payment systems, or any other data systems maintained by the Treasury Department containing personally identifiable information and/or confidential financial information of payees, other than to civil servants with a need for access to perform their job duties within the Bureau of Fiscal Services.”
Defendants are also “restrained from granting access to all political appointees, special government employees, and government employees detailed from an agency outside the Treasury Department, to any Treasury Department payment record, payment systems, or any other data systems maintained by the Treasury Department containing personally identifiable information.”
Politico reported that U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden, will be handling the case.
The case is New York v. Trump, No. 1:25-cv-1144 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
