Published On 18 Feb 2025
A United States judge has handed a temporary win to President Donald Trump and billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk, ruling against a request for a temporary restraining order that would slow down their efforts to hollow out federal agencies.
District Judge Tanya Chutkan’s decision on Tuesday came as part of an ongoing lawsuit brought by 14 states, arguing that Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has no authority to fire federal workers or access sensitive data.
Chutkan concluded that Musk’s legal authority to carry out firings and cut funds was questionable, but that the states had failed to prove the imminent harm that would justify a restraining order.
Still, she expressed sympathy for the states’ case, saying they “legitimately call into question what appears to be the unchecked authority of an unelected individual”.
“DOGE’s unpredictable actions have resulted in considerable uncertainty and confusion,” Chutkan wrote, pointing out that DOGE “was not created by Congress” and has little oversight.
It was a rare legal victory for the Trump administration, which has seen several federal courts issue restraining orders to halt its actions.
Since entering office, Trump and his allies have moved swiftly to debilitate federal agencies that have long been viewed with ire by conservatives, arguing that they are rooting out wasteful spending and unspecified “fraud”.
Experts and Democratic officials have questioned the legality of some of those moves.
Tuesday’s lawsuit was led by 14 state attorneys general. It sought to bar DOGE employees from receiving sensitive information from government departments for labour, education, health and human services, energy, transportation and commerce, as well as the Office of Personnel Management.
In seeking a restraining order, the states also hoped to prevent DOGE from firing federal workers or placing them on leave.
Their case hinges on the argument that Musk and DOGE are exercising powers that must be approved by Congress.
Trump announced the creation of DOGE shortly after his re-election in November, saying its goal would be to “dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies”.
Upon taking office on January 20, Trump signed an executive order replacing the US Digital Service – an office tasked with updating government technology – with DOGE, folding it into the executive branch.
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