Judge Issues Emergency Order Halting DOGE Access To Treasury Payment Systems
Temporary Restraining Order granted on a Friday night with no opportunity for the government to be heard and without any obvious emergency so dire that even a day’s notice was not permitted.
U.S. District Court Judge Paul Englemeyer in the Southern District of New York, serving on the court’s emergency docket (there’s always a judge available), has granted an emergency temporary injunction to the State of New York and over a dozen other blue states putting on hold the access that U.S. Treasury Department Secretary Scott Bessent had given to DOGE (the Department of Government Efficiency) to Treasury payment systems as part of Trump’s effort to locate and eliminate waste and fraud.
[Note: It’s a little unclear if the Order was entered on Friday night or Saturday morning, it’s dated February 8 but the language is written as if it were decided February 7.]
It was an unusual procedural context. I’ve reviewed the court’s electronic docket, and it appears to have been ex parte. There’s no indication of notice to the government and opportunity to be heard before the Judge ruled. The procedure was a Proposed Order To Show Cause including a Temporary Restraining Order. It’s the type of procedure used in only the most extreme emergencies (the OSC is not unusual, but including an ex parte TRO is unusual).
What was the emergency that couldn’t wait until the next day for the government to have a chance to be heard?
It was a Friday night move to deny access that, by the papers submitted, had been going on for over two weeks. The 60 page Complaint, and 40 Page Memorandum (plus a short Affirmation) obviously took a long time to prepare, arguing against an emergency so dire and time sensitive on a Friday night the court couldn’t even wait until the next morning for the government to be heard. It also reeks of judge shopping, because plaintiffs would have known who was the emergency duty judge so by going in on a Friday night they evaded the normal random assignment system for this purpose.
Whatever the ultimate merits, depriving the Secretary of Treasury of the ability to run the Department of Treasury as he deems proper is not something that should have been decided this way, even temporarily. I understand that litigants play these games, but it’s a bad look that damages faith in the judiciary when a court allows it.
The short version of the complaint and claims is that Secretary Bessent violated various procedural requirements and that there is a threat that sensitive private information could be exposed. Considering that the Chinese government thoroughly hacked the Treasury computer systems under Biden, it’s odd that the mere possibility that DOGE might mishandle the information required a Friday night court intervention. I think there are serious ‘standing’ issues with the states bringing the case as well as the harm being speculative.
I can’t really assess the underlying merits on such short notice, other than it seems like what it is, a political objection in search of a legal theory. The Executive Branch gets to run the Executive Branch, and this seems like an overstep by a different branch of government.
This seems to be a repeat of 2017, where the Resistance had good luck with District Court Judges, less luck with Appeals Court Judges, and very little luck with Supreme Court Justices. But that’s besides the point, this is all about slowing down the Trump agenda, and wasting months or years before a final resolution is reached. Democrats don’t have to win in the end to achieve Democrats’ goals.
Here’s the Order entered this morning, it’s not only a freeze on access, it required deletion of any information already obtained.
…. ORDERS that, sufficient reason having been shown therefor, pending the hearing of the States’ application for a preliminary injunction, pursuant to Rule 65 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the defendants are (i) restrained from granting access to any Treasury Department payment record, payment systems, or any other data systems maintained by the Treasury Department containing personally identifiable information and/or confidential financial information of payees, other than to civil servants with a need for access to perform their job duties within the Bureau of Fiscal Services who have passed all background checks and security clearances and taken all information security training called for in federal statutes and Treasury Department regulations; (ii) restrained from granting access to all political appointees, special government employees, and government employees detailed from an agency outside the Treasury Department, to any Treasury Department payment record, payment systems, or any other data systems maintained by the Treasury Department containing personally identifiable information and/or confidential financial information of payees; and (iii) ordered to direct any person prohibited above from having access to such information, records and systems but who has had access to such information, records, and systems since January 20, 2025, to immediately destroy any and all copies of material downloaded from the Treasury Department’s records and systems …. [emphasis added.]
As others have pointed out, as worded, this would appear to bar Bessent himself from access to these systems even though he is the Treasury Secretary, because he is a “political appointee.”
The case is on for hearing next week in front of a different judge, Jeannette A. Vargas, one of Biden’s last appointments. I don’t think the ruling survives very long, and Musk still is working out the details of how to track fraud and waste.
To be clear, what the @DOGE team and @USTreasury have jointly agreed makes sense is the following:
– Require that all outgoing government payments have a payment categorization code, which is necessary in order to pass financial audits. This is frequently left blank, making…
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 8, 2025
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Comments
Does some have something to hide
The judge is acting insurrectiony in my eyes. Throw him in the DC Gulag!
Guantanamo Bay might be better.
It’s a great big stalling technique. The crooks are just buying time to marshall the forces of evil.
Western Union can only process so fast.
“buying time to marshall forces”
Yes. The Swamp and The Deep State have allies, plus the means and the will to resist. No surprise, there, considering their decades of worldwide experience.
Never underestimate your opponent.
I vote for El Salvador.
The good news is that now, Trump fans might reign in their cockiness a bit. Yes, the Swamp and Deep State do know how to fight back. Just as Glenn Greenwald — who’s delighted at what Musk is doing, btw — cautions us in this video: https://rumble.com/v6iggcs-dismantling-usaid-dems-desperate-battle-to-protect-the-admin-state.html .
Trump needs all the broad-basef support he can get. That’s why he’s been unwise to alienate some groups by doing silly things like changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico, and with his impending, premeditated war crime of turning Gaza into luxury resorts.
Or…they might redouble their efforts and slap this down with sanctions on the initial judge. You know….not the sheepish way that you seem to survive on.
Indeed. Lots of potential options to match the escalation of this rogue judge issuing an ex parte order that is blatantly unconstitutional.
1. Tell the Judge it is unconstitutional and that he can pound sand.
2. Send armed agents to his home to escort the crisis intervention team who but this clearly insane judge before a tame magistrate to involuntarily commit him and see that he gets the mental health support that he clearly needs.
3. Huddle up with Speaker and Senate Majority leader and ram through a simple change to the judiciary; dismantle all Inferior Courts. Don’t need an amendment just a vote. Then reconfigure the geographical boundaries of the Federal Circuits. Reauthorize the Inferior Courts and Trump can fill EVERY vacancy.
4. Go along with it but by cutting off ALL disbursements from the Treasury to non National defense priorities including Judicial Branch.
The folks doing the ‘resisting’ are out of tough with the mood of.the electorate. Trump is the ‘good cop’. What comes after him if MAGA/MAHA policy priorities chosen and supported by the public are thwarted is not gonna be ‘bad cop’ but something worse. These goofy ‘resistance’ folks gonna FA and find out they are Ceausescu if they ain’t careful.
premeditated war crime of turning Gaza into luxury resorts
Seriously? Bite me. You don’t know anything about war crimes.
“What was the emergency that couldn’t wait until the next day for the government to have a chance to be heard?”
“A left! A right! A left to the head! A right to the stomach!…”
Open the bomb bay doors, Hal.
I’m afraid I can’t do that Henry.
At this rate, based on the way the extremists are acting, 2026 may flip things on their head and give Trump a larger mandate and majorities in Congress. Surely something to run on. The toothpaste is out of the tube and people see the extremists are not pro-America, despite the pretend antics.
It “would appear to bar Bessent himself” doesn’t sound too clear, does it? How about he just takes access and then we see if the Petitioner’s take it to the judge? And then we see what the judge does? Why just follow it – force them to make a move.
Also, what was the irreparable harm alleged? Can’t be just monetary in nature. It was next to impossible to get a state or federal court to preliminarily enjoin a managerial prerogative to stop vaccine mandates, pending the merits and given a deadline, and that was certainly irreparable harm (if there was a serious side effect or death).
What if Musk applied for a job and Bessent hired him to work there?
Treasury Secretary already said at least 2 of the team were current Treasury employees. Further, he said that he personally interviewed them for this task.
In before Milhouse comes in with his “ackshully….” bullsh!t saying how this is all perfectly normal.
I actually like Milhouse. He is in my opinion ” the loyal opposition”. I often don’t agree with his conclusions but he always backs up his positions with information. I like to hear informed dissenting opinions to keep us from becoming a total echo chamber. Sure he often makes people angry but he always makes us think. That ain’t a bad thing. Sure his fun is in looking for the argument against whatever, but that’s okay.
Fundamentally Milhouse likes the same cornflakes that we all do. He just likes pissing on them to get the excess sugar off them.
He is a completely different breed from our two recent acquisitions who are uneducated basement escapees.
Trump should issue a Presidential E O stating that all expenditures that are not reference specifically in legislation or a specific budget line item are on hold pending Executive Branch review and approval.
That’s part of what DOGE is doing, comparing the funds going out the door to the Congressional authorization for the spending. Much of the federal spending is not specifically authorized by Congress just appropriated for a broad goal/purpose. The bureaucracy has been allowed to more/less spend as they see.fit to meet the broad goal/purpose. That’s why the wokiestas are so fired up, their allies in the revolving door of govt to NGO to private sector won’t be able to cut them any more checks with little/no oversight once DOGE finishes mapping out the spending. FWIW some of the current spending is for programs authorized decades ago but never stopped, ongoing spending on a sort of bureaucratic autopilot.
their allies in the revolving door of govt to NGO to private sector
You forgot to put the “govt” at the end of that loop to complete it.
See if I can rephrase that: Trump should issue an EO saying that no Treasury expenditure may be issued without review by the Executive branch.
Judge: “You can’t look at that.”
Treasury: “Well then, we can’t write any checks or transfer any funds related to that.”
Let AI run the system with no humans involved. Have Musk design the AI and Trump can hold a ceremony in the Oval Office where he pushes a big button to turn operation over to a machine.
Oh dear Paula. Didn’t you ever see the original Terminator movie? Can you whisper “SkyNet” boys and girls?
Judge has no authority, as it’s solely an executive branch issue.
So why not defy the judge, saying he lacks authority?
We might see this happen Monday.
Trump’s administration has the moral and legal high ground here (so far). Disrespecting the legal system is a strategically bad move. The DOGE team won’t get to work through the weekend at this particular agency. Bummer. Get the decision reversed on Monday and get back to work with a “Activist judges are the flunkies of the Democrat radicals, trying to tell the Executive Branch how to run the Executive Branch” talking point set up for the Press Secretary.
Yes. This. Ignoring the Judge would shift the debate completely.
When in court, you always want to be arguing about what the other fellow did, not what YOU did. Force the higher court to disavow the decision of this judge.
An ex parte restraining order directed against the president is insane and indefensible. A person exercising judicial discretion in this manner is not fit to be a federal judge and should be removed. That being said, funny thing about the word “immediately.” under the circumstances, I would recommend waiting a tad before deleting anything.
He lacks “standing,” you might say
Not only because of that but because no District Judge has authority to issue a nationwide injunction. They just took the power unto themselves and everyone went along with it. I’d like to see that brought before SCOTUS on an emergency basis and put a stop to it as we saw this during Trumps last term especially that judge in Hawaii. A judge shouldn’t have the power to dictate national policy like that.
well, they do it frequently. Remember back in ’17 a Federal judge in Hawaii issued a naton wide ban on the so called “Muslim Ban”
The judge has no legal brains.
As people went over ad infinitum when discussing the authority of the POTUS with respect to “classified” information, the regulations do not apply to the POTUS. He is the wielder of all executive authority. A core responsibility of any chief executive is the oversight of the operations conducted by his delegates. It is clearly within Trump’s authority (coming directly from Article II of the Constitution) to audit, investigate, and exercise control over all executive branch offices that are, all of them, exercising authority delegated to them by the POTUS. The courts are being asked to prevent the POTUS from scrutinizing the very offices and their people who are acting in his name, with his authority.
Trump should tell the lower courts to pound sand. SCOTUS has already ruled that a POTUS has plenary authority over all executive matters.
Trump should go over to the treasury on Monday morning and sit down at the computer terminal and say, “Now show me the records.” Take Musk with him wearing a blindfold so he can’t look at it. Have Musk explain to the employees what information Trump wants and then take it to the Oval Office so Trump can review it.
I like this.
Paula, that’s why the judge specifically forbids downloading any data.
This sort of wokiesta resistance shenanigan is flipping dumb. It won’t stand up to scrutiny. They are handing over a potential layup to the Trump Admin to put before SCOTUS and stop most future shenanigans. The President is the unitary Executive. Period. Straight out of Art 2 first sentence ‘ The executive Power SHALL be vested in a President…’. It’s not ambiguous. His appointments particularly SR appointments confirmed by the Senate run the Dept/Agencies implementing the policy directives of the President and the order effectively prevents both of those from occurring. For a District CT to claim they have the power to that rule out with an ex parte order is nuts. This judge is effectively telling us the bureaucracy runs the govt not the Senate confirmed appointee nor the elected President and certainly not the electorate.
The decision (hopefully) won’t stand up to scrutiny, but, the vile Dhimmi-crats’ goal is 24/7 obstruction and sabotage of #47’s agenda and policies. These snakes know that they have myriad sympathetic Dhimmi-crat activist “judges” sitting on the federal bench, who are more than happy to rubber-stamp any filing, in service of Party goals.
Getting final resolution in the federal courts takes months or years, and, the Dhimmi-crats are happy to delay reform as long as they can.
Not on something this basic. No way this goes longer than a couple weeks and I won’t be at all surprised to see the Admin tell the CT to pound sand on this assuming it isn’t sent packing before middle of the week.
I do hope that you’re right, Chief.
“This judge is effectively telling us the bureaucracy runs the government, not the Senate confirmed appointee, nor the elected President and certainly not the electorate.”
Trump’s lawyers should include this in their appeal.
The judge is effectively telling the citizens of the United States the administrative bureaucracy and the federal courts run the government. Not the elected President. Not the Senate confirmed appointees. And certainly not the electorate.
And make no mistake, any appeal of this “emergency temporary injunction” will be slow-walked through the court system for as along as possible.
They got kinda used to running things that way with Zombie Biden in office.
They were doing that long before Biden. Heck, even before 0bama.
the administrative bureaucracy and the federal courts run the government
Black-robed satraps. Of course, a bunch of us have known this for years – which is why we’re so happy to see Trump expose it.
This does have the effect of adding the judicial folks to his pulling back the curtain. He can now point and say “See? This is the crap they’ve been pulling for a long time. Call your Congresscritters to have judges like this impeached.”
Tell the judge to find a army to stop DOGE would be my opinion. Leftists always find a Leftist hack judge to jump into something they have no jurisdiction over.
Better yet, ask the leftist judge if he is sure he doesn’t want to lift his order because if not, we are sending the US Marshalls to arrest him for interfering with official US government business.
Translation: That USAID arrow hit its target, if they don’t stop Trump now, they will be in the wilderness for the next 2 decades.
The news cycles and memes from USAID will be hot for another month. Americans are having their first hits of liberty smack back on their tax dollars being weaponized against them and it’s more addictive than fentanyl.
That “irreparable harm” justification is the weakest of sauce. “More vulnerable to hacking?” Proven how, in a ex parte hearing, with no technical testimony? Disclosure of confidential information? Seriously? This is the same Federal Government that let the Chinese into the personal files of 17 million govt employees a few years back.
If they’re really that worried, they can just have OPM send us yet another Lifelock subscription to go with the others they’ve set us up with for the previous data breeches.
What happens when the stuff they already have implicates the traitorous judge?
We need to bring back guillotines so the punishment carries sufficient moment to deter
“Switch the juries between this court and the one next door.”
.
.
.
“I told him his name is in the ledger.”
Untouchables
NOTHING CAN STOP WHAT IS COMING
Just ignore the order and tell the judge send his army to enforce it. We really are there.
The answer is very simple. SHUT DOWN the treasury’s payment systems and then when they ask you to bring them back up, point out that you’re not allowed to access them.
I like it
And blame it on the judge. Single him out and make him answer for it.
Someone elsewhere (Instapundit) had a way of doing it: Point out that the Treasury Secretary legally signs every check, and he won’t/can’t until this order is lifted. And nobody gets paid at all without that signature.
It’s difficult to set the bar much lower for the NY federal judiciary, but it looks like Judge Paul Englemeyer may have accomplished it. Is hysteria a legally sufficient basis for an ex parte TRO? Judge Paul Englemeyer evidently thinks so.
When a judge is this far outside of ordinary procedure, look very carefully at their finances.
There are specific rules for destruction of government records passed by Congress.
Judge Paul Englemeyer has usurped both legislative and executive power in his unlawful decision.
One of our congresscritters ought enter a resolution first thing Monday morning calling for his impeachment. Usurping power falls under “High Crimes”.
Meantime with that usurpation- Trump ought file an appeal directly to the Supreme Court- and they ought accept it. Usurpation of power is not to be taken lightly.
They should do the following.
First, ignore the order.
Second, tell the judge to reverse it immediately and then resign. He won’t being an arrogant Obama judge.
This brings us to step three.
Arrest him and charge him and the State AG’s pushing this under 18 U.S. Code § 2384 and perp walk them into the nearest jail.
It’s time for the executive branch to put the judicial branch back in it’s place.
Don’t ignore the order. Force the Supreme Court to rule on it.
Yeah? I was not aware of these laws. Can you point them out for me?
A simple DuckDuckGo search provide the following reference from Cornell Law’s “Legal Information Institute” :
“If two or more persons in any State or Territory, or in any place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, conspire to overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force the Government of the United States, or to levy war against them, or to oppose by force the authority thereof, or by force to prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of any law of the United States, or by force to seize, take, or possess any property of the United States contrary to the authority thereof, they shall each be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both.”
Unfortunately the phrases “…oppose by force” come into play, and would require that the corrupt/biased judge enforce his ruling with some form of physical force (use of police/marshalls/sheriffs) to arrest and attempt to imprison authorized persons. I say Trump’s Secretary of the Treasury go ahead and invite in a US Marshall, access some records, and then demand to be arrested. Then and only then could you accurately accuse them of “opposing by force” their legitimate authority, and jug the entire bunch of state AG’s and the judge.
It would be fun to watch a speedy trial followed by a twenty year sentence for these bozos, and to provide an example for anybody else trying this little gambit.
So why not outright defy the judge, asserting he lacks authority? He can bluster, but not do much.
So is the judge preventing Trump from accessing the same information? Trump is the president of the United States and the chief executive officer. The Secretary of the Treasury is essentially deferred Trump’s powers to handle these matters directly. But the power originated in trump. So Trump can just take access to it. Is this judge actually going to hold the president of the United States in contempt? Here’s a better question, why doesn’t Trump just take unilateral action against things that the Judiciary has control over? Why doesn’t Trump order the judge excluded from his courtroom? I mean, why not? Since branches are invading the powers of other branches?
Everyone in the executive branch who has any authority at all is exercising authority that’s been delegated to them from DJT through the chain of command. The judge is barring the lawful delegates of the POTUS from conducting executive functions. This effectively blocks DJT from performing his functions as POTUS as if the judge had blocked DJT himself. There is no legal difference between blocking someone with a delegation of authority from the POTUS and blocking the POTUS himself. If permitted, it would destroy the concept of “delegation of authority.” It’s meant to allow individuals, within the grant of the delegation, to act in the stead of the POTUS. Without such grants, the POTUS would have to do everything himself, a clear impossibility.
Malicious compliance also works when it comes to the judge’s order. Just shut down payments made by the treasury. If the secretary can’t access the records, then nobody can access the funds.
Yes, a sound conclusion. Everyone at Treasury who authorizes the disbursement of funds is exercising a delegation of authority that comes from the POTUS through his delegation of authority to the Secretary, and from the Secretary down through the chain of command at Treasury. If the Secretary’s delegation of authority is made a nullity, everyone downstream from him is similarly stripped of their delegated authority.
Even easier than the constitutional justification:
If we can’t access it, then it needs to be shut down for cybersecurity purposes. And then UNPLUG IT.
Dear Prof Jacobson.
Could you please pin this subject to the top?
This is more interesting than whirlwind Schumer.
Or maybe we need 2 layers of pinned?
So much interesting. TU
LOL… thank you Professor Jacobson…. Pinned to the top.
“he may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, upon ANY subject relating to the duties of their respective offices, ”
I think that may the Secretary of the Treasury giving him detailed payment information and his opinion about it.
This decision shouldn’t last ten seconds.
Judicial Conduct Committee?
I would think the obvious immediate response would be to make a super-dire-emergency ex parte application to whichever SCOTUS justice is on call, to TRO Engelmeyer’s TRO. Then it can be sorted out at leisure, and he can be called to account for having issued the TRO in such a manner.
The bat-down of this nutty judge should be a slam-dunk. First, he doesn’t have the authority to shut down the entire Treasury department for a week while he judiciatates and pontificates. Second, the Treasury and DOGE have already come to an agreement on how the information is to be treated (and in a far more sensible fashion than before) so his unconstitutional move is also moot.
I’m no attorney, but it seems like the term “ultra vires” could apply here.
I don’t know whether it’s technically ultra vires, but it has a strong stench of that.
“Ultra vires” is Legal Latin for “too big for his britches”.
It was an unusual procedural context.
That tickled my funny bone.
Next there will be some Judge ordering Trump back into his room, and he will not be allowed out until he can behave.
I understand that litigants play these games, but it’s a bad look that damages faith in the judiciary when a court allows it.
Thank you Professor, you said a mouthful. TBH, this normie could not have less faith in the judiciary, after witnessing lawfare for four years, I hope Monday is lit. Bless and keep the legal eagle warriors, we need you now more than ever.
The Presidents authority over the entire executive branch was affirmed in the immunity ruling last summer. This judge is outright defying the Supreme Court. If memory serves me it was a 9-0 decision. This judge has opened himself up for impeachment. You cannot as a judge defy settled law from the Supreme Court. It’s time for these District Court judges be taught a harsh and lasting lesson. Fidelity to the Constitution should be first and foremost a judge’s first responsibility.
That would require Congress to actually do it which they won’t. Democrats are communists that want to destroy the country and most Republicans are gutless, especially in the Senate.
It’s not denying “settled law” from SCOTUS that should be the standard. It should be that that decision was one that was pretty clearly obvious from the Constitution. (Bruen should be treated the same way, IMO.)
I have read that the Department of Education has or had their own Special Weapons and Tactics team. Maybe DOGE should have one as well, for the safety of their people. They could kick in doors, shoot dogs, and prone federal employees out on the lawn in their underwear and zip tie handcuffs. Just standard SWAT proceedures for safety and preserving evidence.
It’s probably closer to the truth to say “The DoE has an investigative unit with authorization to carry firearms.” It’s true of most federal agencies. They’re the people who will walk you to the curb if you get fired for severe offences.
How do states even have standing to inhibit the Executive in the performance of its duties?
They don’t.
They would if he were overstepping state sovereignty in some fashion. But that doesn’t include “We won’t get our checks!”
It’s shocking that a judge would issue an ex parte order prohibiting a CONFIRMED Cabinet Secretary to access the information he’s constitutionally/ statutorily obligated to access.
We’ll see what kind of people Johnson and Thune are because this is the kind of insolent behavior that cries out for Impeachment.
Because, 8 years of lawfare and resistance turned out so well for them. Its the only play they know.
I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, its irritating and this judge should be impeached {Issa said on X he is introducing legislation to stop this nonsense}
On the other hand, never interrupt your opponent when they are flailing. Hows it going to look a year from now? Silly.
It’s will carefully fall out of the news hole, like Fast & Furious.
I would add that there is NOTHING stopping John Roberts from ‘reaching down’ and taking this case from the District Court. Sure, it’s highly unusual. But, it’s been done before. You know what else is ‘highly unusual?’ A District Court judge issuing an ex parte order prohibiting a sitting Cabinet Secretary from doing his job. The only way this lawfare ends is with Impeachment and conviction (which is impossible given the makeup of the Senate), OR the conservative Justices putting an end to this.
Since a State is a party, the Supreme Court has original jurisdiction as provided in Article III of the Constitution. The notion of dual original jurisdiction permits District Courts to exercise original jurisdiction in which only one State is a Party. The relevant part of Article III reads:
The Supreme Court would be within its Article III Constitutional Mandate assume original jurisdiction over this case. It could even then grant dismissal with prejudice.
However, John Roberts is a political creature than a jurist who will be remembered for great, insightful and courageous legal writing. Roberts often favors procedure over substance. I would not expect much from him,, unless there is a strong political wind.
Could AG Bondi recommend that Trump et al not follow an unconstitutional judicial order, referencing the SCOTUS decision?
You know, if the new standard is only civil service can touch treasury data, I can think of a lot of contractors / consultants whose services are no longer necessary. Lots of plum jobs for democrats in that world. Fire them all. Blame it on the O’Bama judge. Alternately, call the DOGE team contractors / consultants. You can do one or the other but not both. Thanks for playing, though. Cheers –
1. All people currently working with computers that access the system will be reassigned so no one can mess with it.
2. The system will be shut down until the case has been adjudicated.
Followed by history’s biggest back-pedal.
The Sec. of Treasury seems to be on board with DOGE’s efforts.
It makes sense to me that Treasury could simply bring the entire DOGE staff into the treasury as an internal audit team, give them whatever vetting necessary to be just like any other treasure official. Then let them perform their internal audits, like they should be done.
I don’t see the problem. As I read it, the judge issued a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) and set a Preliminary Injunction (PI) hearing this coming Friday, 2/14/25. TROs can be ex parte.
See: (FRCP) Rule 65. Injunctions and Restraining Orders
What did that TRO do? It prevented non career bureaucrats from accessing the data at Treasury. That means a District Judge believes that the Senate confirmed Treasury Secretary can’t access his Department’s data. He says the unitary Executive, aka the President can’t see the data of the Executive Branch. This means the Judicial Branch just told the Executive and the Senate to eff off, that they need his permission to meet their Constitutional duty.
This flies directly in the face of the plain text ot Art 2; The Executive Power shall be vested in a President of the USA. That’s not at all ambiguous. This order effectively overturns the Constitutional framework. It is a dangerous, vain glorious fit of unconstitutional overreach.
How about the Executive Branch starts implementing ‘temporary’ periods of inaction on the Judicial Branch preventing its basic functions. Though without option of using TRO the Executive must use the tools in its arsenal; armed agents. Seems like this is probably a bad idea for the co equal Branches of Federal govt to begin a tit for tat escalation seeking to bar the fundamental powers and duties of the others.
For security purposes pull the plug on the servers – ALL servers – for the Treasury dept. For security reasons, suspend all payments from any account under the authority of the Treasury. Including paychecks. Even the ones to the Judicial branch. For everyone’s safety, you know.
It’s time for the Executive Branch to remind the Judicial Brach that the executive is a separate and equal part of the US government and it is not going to be pushed around, micro-managed, or have its audits limited by partisan hacks in black robes.