Engelmayer blocked DOGE’s access to the Treasury Department payment system. In his ruling, Engelmayer forbade all political appointees including the Treasury Secretary(!) from accessing Department of Treasury data.
Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) explained the ruling on my podcast, “The Alex Marlow Show.”
“The ruling is just four pages long. It appears to me to be all boilerplate, pretty generic language with zero substantive legal analysis,” Lee said.
“It was issued ex parte, meaning the Trump administration lawyers weren’t allowed to argue, they weren’t even in the room,” he added, noting that the aggressive ruling came down with apparently only activist leftists in the room.
“This is a really aggressive order that,” Lee explained, because “in essence” it implies that “Scott Bessent simply occupies a ceremonial role without real power.”
Pure lawfare.
In what universe is the Treasury Secretary not allowed to look at the records of the agency he manages?
The State Democracy Defenders Fund, which filed its lawsuit with the firm Marziani, Stevens & Gonzalez, also argued that Mr. Musk wielded an “extraordinary amount of power” and that his actions had violated the Constitution’s appointments clause.
The plaintiffs are seeking to prevent Mr. Musk and his team from continuing their work until Mr. Musk is “properly appointed,” according to the complaint, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.
President-elect Donald Trump has said he will be a “dictator on day one.” Our American Autocracy Threat Tracker comprehensively catalogs all of Trump’s and his allies’ Project 2025 and other specific plans and promises. We also catalog potential bipartisan solutions to address the threat both now and should it come to pass in 2025. The full Threat Tracker is updated regularly.
Administrative law judges claim that the potential disclosure of their personal information sought by the Department of Government Efficiency threatens their safety, in a lawsuit that joins a wave of actions seeking to disrupt the Trump administration's efforts to pare back the federal workforce.
The Association of Administrative Law Judges — a union that represents 910 administrative law judges who adjudicate cases at the Social Security Administration — filed suit on Tuesday alongside several other unions that represent government workers.
The lawsuit, opens new tab, filed in a New York federal court, asks the court to stop DOGE, led by Trump ally Elon Musk, from accessing personal and employment records through the Office of Personnel Management, which functions as the federal government’s human resources department.
Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer and Representative Hakeem Jeffries, both of New York, unveiled a new bill on Tuesday called "Stop the Steal," which they say is "to prevent unlawful meddling in the Treasury Department's payment systems and protect Americans across the country."
"Over the past few days, Democrats have warned the American people that DOGE is operating like a shadow government," Schumer, the Senate minority leader, said. "It's not a real government agency. It has no authority to make spending decisions, to shut down programs or ignore federal law. This is not debatable. It's an indisputable fact."