Judge grants Letitia James' request to stop DOGE's Treasury access after climate initiatives go unfunded

A federal judge has temporality halted access to the federal Treasury payment system for Elon Musk's DOGE team. New York Attorney General Letitia James along with 18 other Democratic state attorneys general launched a lawsuit after funds going to climate change programs got paused.

According to the lawsuit, the attorneys general accused President Donald Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent of failing to "faithfully execute the laws enacted by Congress" and said that the DOGE team was "attempting to access government data to support initiatives to block federal funds from reaching certain disfavored beneficiaries." Some of the programs that were interrupted in their funding were climate change initiative programs. The lawsuit alleges that health clinics as well as preschools were also impacted.

US District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer issued the emergency order to pause the access for DOGE and said that Musk's team or other employees granted access need to "destroy any and all copies of material downloaded from the Treasury Department’s records and systems" since January 20, per the New York Times. Engelmayer also restricted the Trump administration from giving access to the systems that have been designated as "special government employees."

The Trump administration moved quickly to make this designation and allow access to the Treasury systems to those who were given the special role when he was inaugurated. On February 14, Trump, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and the Treasury Department will have to show cause in the case to address the order.

The lawsuit said that the Treasury Department had given DOGE “virtually unfettered access” to the most sensitive of government records. This comes as Musk as well as Trump have taken several actions in order to cut back on the cost of government.

Earlier this week, after a funding showdown with staffers at the US Agency of International Development, Trump declared that the agency should be shut down and it was reported that just under 300 of the 10,000 employees that staffed the building are left.

The Treasury Department is responsible for channeling around 90 percent of all federal government funding to individuals as well as state and local governments.

The attorneys general on the lawsuits represent the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin.

Letitia James Lawsuit on Scribd