Elon Musk's government cost-cutting team was denied access to payment systems at the U.S. Treasury Department on Friday, but another judge granted DOGE personnel access to documents at health, labor, and consumer financial protection agencies.

Since Donald Trump became president, Musk's Department of Government Efficiency has been implementing wasteful spending reduction efforts in federal agencies. This is part of Trump's government overhaul, which also included thousands of job cuts on Friday, as Fox News reported.

In Manhattan, U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas prolonged a temporary block on DOGE on Saturday, preventing Musk's team from accessing Treasury systems handling trillions of dollars in payments.

At a court hearing, the judge indicated she would not rule on 19 Democratic state attorneys general's request for a prolonged preliminary injunction on DOGE's system access.

Case Details

The attorneys general's case is one of 20 connected to government cuts.

Approximately 70 lawsuits have challenged Trump measures, including abolishing birthright citizenship and limiting federal financing for transgender health treatments, with many terms rejected by judges.

The attorneys general argued Musk's team does not have the legal authority to access payment systems containing sensitive personal data on millions of Americans, potentially disrupting funding for health clinics, preschools, and other services.

A request for comment from the White House was delayed. Following rulings against his DOGE team, Musk and other Trump allies have called for impeaching judges. However, Trump has stated that he will follow court orders.

Judge's Ruling

A federal judge in Washington denied unions and NGOs' plea to temporarily stop Musk's team from seeing Labor, Health and Human Services, and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau documents.

In a written judgment, U.S. District Judge John Bates said the government was likely right that DOGE was an agency that could delegate staff to other government departments.

Bates termed his conclusion a "close question," noting that the government did not want DOGE to be designated an agency under another federal law, which would subject it to open information requests.

Bates said he believes DOGE was a "Goldilocks entity: not an agency when it is burdensome but an agency when it is convenient."

Going Forward

Bates requested that the parties suggest a timetable for determining whether he should issue a longer-term preliminary injunction to prevent DOGE from accessing the agencies.

Musk posted a message on his X social media platform that expressed his satisfaction with the decision, saying "This is a HUGE win!"

Judges declined to issue immediate decisions regarding requests to extend or block orders that restrict the DOGE team's access to government systems during two additional court hearings on Friday.