DOGE can keep accessing government data for now, judge rules
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Summary
Judge Tanya Chutkan of the DC District Court denied a request for a temporary restraining order (TRO) from Democratic state attorneys general led by New Mexico, seeking to prevent Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from accessing or transferring large amounts of data from seven US agencies, and halting further firings.
Chutkan did not rule out that the attorneys had raised serious questions about constitutional violations, saying Musk, whom she noted had not been confirmed by the Senate, may have been engaged in “executive abuses” of the sort prohibited by the Appointments Clause.
However, she ruled that the states had not demonstrated that they would be irreparably harmed without the TRO, a standard that she said required more than the mere possibility of harm.
The states said they would continue to pursue the case.