Feb. 14 (UPI) — A federal judge on Friday extended a temporary order that prevents Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency team from accessing the Treasury Department payment system.
In a separate judicial hearing, the Trump administration has agreed to hold off on the mass firing of employees of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
In a two-pronged assault on government agencies, the Trump Administration is seeking seeking to slash jobs, including through buyouts, and cut costs.
Musk’s DOGE has gained access to at least 16 federal agencies. Trump has signed an executive order giving DOGE additional authority to help carry out massive layoffs across the government as part of his campaign pledge to trim the federal bureaucracy.
The White House has been critical of the judicial rulings.
Department of Treasury
District Judge Jeannette Vargas in New York heard arguments on whether DOGE associates should be allowed to access the information. Vargas, who was appointed by President Joe Biden, decided to extend her temporary restriction originally ordered on Saturday by U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer in Manhattan until she rules on the requests from 19 state attorneys general.
She said her decision would come down over the next few days, but not on Friday night.
The plaintiffs allege Musk and staff, listed as “special government employees,” have been unlawfully granted access to the Treasury system restricted to specific government employees.
“The conduct of Doge members presents a unique security risk to the States and State residents whose data is held,” the original complaint charged.
Engelmayer was appointed by President Barack Obama.
Earlier, Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, appointed by President Bill Clinton, had already limited access to this system by two Musk allies, Tom Krause and Marko Elez.
Engelmayer’s order goes further, preventing them and many other government employees from accessing the system until at least Friday.
He had ordered the prohibited workers to “immediately destroy and all copies of material downloaded.”
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
There was an emergency court challenge in the District of Columbia to the dismantling of the agency, which is an independent agency of the government responsible for consumer protection in the financial sector.
Besides a pause on firings, monetary reserves won’t be moved around by the federal government and the agency won’t delete or change any data or records at the CFPB.
This is according to an agreement that a judge has approved in federal court in Washington on Friday.
Amy Berman Jackson, appointed by President Barack Obama, set a hearing for March 3.
Probationary and term employees at the agency have already been terminated recently, people familiar with the matter told CNN.
“We have very credible information that they are intending to lay off basically the entire agency,” Deepak Gupta, an attorney representing the plaintiffs, said. “Don’t destroy the agency’s data, which is the institutional memory of the agency.”
The CFPB had more than 1,750 employees at the end of September, according to the agency’s fiscal 2024 financial report.
Workers at the federal government’s consumer finance watchdog in Washington were told to stay home Monday.
The order also blocks acting CFPB Director Russ Vought, who also is director of the Office of Management and Budget, from attempting to defund the agency.