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From Fox News: A federal judge on Tuesday declined to block Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency from accessing government data or firing federal employees.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan declined to grant the plaintiffs’ request to issue a temporary restraining order, citing what she said was their failure to demonstrate evidence of “irreparable harm” caused by DOGE’s access.
“Plaintiffs legitimately call into question what appears to be the unchecked authority of an unelected individual and an entity that was not created by Congress and over which it has no oversight,” Chutkan, an Obama appointee, said Tuesday.
“In these circumstances, it must be indisputable that this court acts within the bounds of its authority. Accordingly, it cannot issue a TRO, especially one as wide-ranging as Plaintiffs request, without clear evidence of imminent, irreparable harm to these Plaintiffs. The current record does not meet that standard.”
The decision from Chutkan is a blow to the coalition of 14 Democratic state attorneys general who sued last week to temporarily restrict DOGE’s access to federal data about government employees.
The lawsuit was filed by New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez. Joining him in the lawsuit were attorneys general from Arizona, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.
The Democrat attorneys general claimed in their lawsuit that Musk, as a private citizen, being given a leadership role in DOGE represents an “unlawful delegation of executive power.”
“There is no greater threat to democracy than the accumulation of state power in the hands of a single, unelected individual,” the lawsuit claimed.
Just In: Judge Tanya Chutkan denies request for a temporary restraining order (TRO) which would block Elon Musk’s access to certain government systems and limit DOGE’s capabilities to make changes in reducing government spending.
Chutkan writes, “Plaintiffs have not carried… pic.twitter.com/qF9RW6oovg
— Ava-joye (@Avajoye) February 18, 2025
Law professor Jonathan Turley reacted with the following statement:
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan has rejected the demand for a temporary restraining order against Doge. She, however, added this point: “Plaintiffs legitimately call into question what appears to be the unchecked authority of an unelected individual and an entity that was not created by Congress and over which it has no oversight.”…
…Of course, that ignores the elected authority in the body of the President, who often acts through “unelected” federal officials. The reluctance of Judge Chutkan is palpable and obvious, but so is the authority of the President to delegate authority to federal employees.
BREAKING: HUGE WIN FOR ELON!
Judge Chutkan shut down 14 Democratic attorneys General’s bid to block DOGE from slashing waste at 7 federal agencies.
– Labor
– Education
– HHS
– Energy
– Transport
– Commerce
– OPM pic.twitter.com/3PRLI9Gr9H— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) February 18, 2025
Judge denies Democrat-led effort to block DOGE access, citing lack of proven harm https://t.co/jzVu40qE24
— Fox News Politics (@foxnewspolitics) February 18, 2025
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