President Trump’s Justice Department moved Sunday evening to lift a judge’s expansive ruling that prevents non-civil servants from accessing the Treasury Department’s payment systems, such as Elon Musk, his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and Treasury political appointees.
The temporary ruling in favor of 19 Democratic state attorneys general was met with scorn over the weekend from the White House and Musk, who called for the judge to be impeached. Vice President Vance responded that judges “aren’t allowed to control the executive’s legitimate power.”
In the new filing, the Justice Department raised alarm that the ruling could be understood to extend as far as preventing Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and other senior department leadership from accessing the systems, since they are political appointees and not civil servants.
“Basic democratic accountability requires that every executive agency’s work be supervised by politically accountable leadership, who ultimately answer to the President. A federal court, consistent with the separation of powers, cannot insulate any portion of that work from the specter of political accountability,” the motion reads.
The judge’s ruling is the latest flash point in the battle over Musk’s expansive portfolio in Trump’s administration, and DOGE’s efforts to rapidly slash the federal bureaucracy.
The 19 attorneys general sued Friday evening over the group’s access to the Treasury critical payment systems, which are used to dole out trillions of dollars annually.
At roughly 1 a.m. EST Saturday, U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer temporarily blocked the administration from giving access to anyone “other than civil servants with a need for access to perform their job duties.”
Although the Trump administration is asking that order be dissolved entirely, it alternatively asked the court narrow it to at least make clear that Treasury Department leadership, contractors that provide system maintenance and external payoes can retain access.
If the court refuses, the Justice Department signaled it will immediately appeal.
Engelmayer, an appointee of former President Obama, made the initial emergency ruling as the on-duty judge Friday evening. Moving forward, however, the case will proceed before U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas, an appointee of former President Biden.
Vargas ordered the parties to meet and discuss the new filing, since the Justice Department suggested they “are in negotiation and hope to at least narrow the issues before the Court.” If no agreement is reached, the judge ordered the plaintiffs to respond to the government’s filing by 5 p.m. EST Monday. The government can then file a reply brief by 11 p.m. EST.
As that battle continues over DOGE’s access to the Treasury Department, legal challenges are simultaneously intensifying over the group’s bid to implant within the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
On Sunday, the National Treasury Employees Union filed two lawsuits over Musk’s efforts. The first case seeks to prevent DOGE’s dismantling of the agency, while the other seeks to block DOGE’s access to CFPB employees’ personal information.
The CFPB will reportedly be shut down this week, as the administration seeks to broadly crack down on the consumer protection agency’s activities.
“It is substantially likely that these initial directives are a precursor to a purge of CFPB’s workforce, which is now prohibited from fulfilling the agency’s statutory mission,” the lawsuit states.
Other legal challenges have been waged against DOGE’s efforts at the Labor and Education departments.
