During a court session on Monday, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, the federal jurist who was set to hear President Donald Trump’s Jan. 6 ‘election interference’ case before his November victory, expressed skepticism over the legality of restricting his team from accessing federal information and dismissing government employees. The lawsuit, which involves Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), challenges their efforts to cut government spending.
While Chutkan has not yet issued a ruling, she indicated that a decision would come within a day. She also suggested she might dismiss the request from 14 Democrat-led states seeking to block Musk and DOGE from obtaining federal data or initiating personnel changes within government agencies.
The judge noted that the states’ argument failed to sufficiently justify the need for such sweeping restrictions. The controversy revolves around actions taken by DOGE across multiple federal departments, including the Office of Personnel Management and the Departments of Education, Labor, Health and Human Services, Energy, Transportation, and Commerce.
“There is no greater threat to democracy than the accumulation of state power in the hands of a single, unelected individual,” the lawsuit against DOGE claims. But Chutkan expressed doubt about the urgency of the alleged threats, pointing out that the attorneys for the states have not shown any imminent harm that would warrant restraining DOGE. “The things that I’m hearing are serious and troubling indeed… But you’re saying these are things that we’re hearing,” she said, according to Fox News. “I’m not seeing it so far.”
New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez filed the lawsuit, joined by officials from Arizona, Michigan, Maryland, Minnesota, California, Nevada, Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Oregon, Washington, and Hawaii. The coalition of states is seeking a temporary restraining order to halt further federal firings recommended by Musk and DOGE.
Chutkan was not completely opposed to the states’ argument; she also critiqued representatives from Trump’s administration. “Nowhere have my friends offered a shred of anything, nor could they, to show that Elon Musk has any formal or actual authority to make any government decisions himself,” DOJ lawyer Harry Graver said. The judge countered, “I think you stretch too far. I disagree with you there.”
