In a stunning and sweeping emergency injunction that has even stunned the people who demanded it, a Manhattan-based District Judge has just removed Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent from his authority over the Treasury Department; blocked any political appointee from accessing records within the Treasury Department; blocked any “special appointee” of President Trump from records within Treasury; and demanded that all information previously extracted be destroyed.
The emergency injunction was signed by District Judge Paul Engelmayer in Manhattan, {Ruling pdf Here} determined without any input from the Trump administration and applies until Friday, February 14, 2025, when U.S. District Judge Jeannette A. Vargas will hear the full arguments of the lawsuit.
The emergency ruling comes as a result of 15 (Soros installed) attorneys general from New Jersey, New York, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, Rhode Island, and Vermont, all filed suit in New York seeking to block Elon Musk and DOGE from access to information that would reveal how activist groups in their states have been funded by the U.S. government. [Link to Press Release Here]
WASHINGTON – […] The lawsuit said Musk and his team could disrupt federal funding for health clinics, preschools, climate initiatives, and other programs, and that Republican President Donald Trump could use the information to further his political agenda.
DOGE’s access to the system also “poses huge cybersecurity risks that put vast amounts of funding for the States and their residents in peril,” the state attorneys general said. They sought a temporary restraining order blocking DOGE’s access.
The judge, an appointee of Democratic former President Barack Obama, said the states’ claims were “particularly strong” and warranted him acting on their request for emergency relief pending a further hearing before another judge on February 14.
“That is both because of the risk that the new policy presents of the disclosure of sensitive and confidential information and the heightened risk that the systems in question will be more vulnerable than before to hacking,” Engelmayer wrote.
New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat whose office is leading the case, welcomed the ruling, saying nobody was above the law and that Americans across the country had been horrified by the DOGE team’s unfettered access to their data.
“We knew the Trump administration’s choice to give this access to unauthorized individuals was illegal, and this morning, a federal court agreed,” James said in a statement.
“Now, Americans can trust that Musk – the world’s richest man – and his friends will not have free rein over their personal information while our lawsuit proceeds.”
Engelmayer’s order bars access from being granted to Treasury Department payment and data systems by political appointees, special government employees and government employees detailed from an agency outside the Treasury Department.
The judge also directed that anyone prohibited under his order from accessing those systems to immediately destroy anything they copied or downloaded. (read more)
The order by the judge is transparent judicial activism; it will almost certainly be overturned and nullified by later rulings. However, it creates blocks and slows down the goal of the Dept of Government Efficiency and the objective of the Trump administration.
On what basis do states think they can sue the federal government to stop the federal government from auditing federal spending? How can a judge block the executive branch from executing the functions of the executive branch? This Lawfare activism is ridiculous.
Within the ruling:
…”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.” {source}
So, the unelected bureaucracy is in charge and not the Secretary of the Treasury?
This ruling is absolutely insane!
How on Earth are we supposed to stop fraud and waste of taxpayer money without looking at how money is spent?
That’s literally impossible!
Something super shady is going to protect scammers. https://t.co/7Eyy9ZsN7A
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 8, 2025
Ignoring the ruling is going to lead to a bevy of Impeachment attempts under “high crimes and misdemeanors.” They’ll highlight the head of the Executive Branch making a decision as if a member of the Legislative Branch. Regardless of how you personally perceive that, the Courts and the Left see it differently, as will some RINO’s.
Let’s face it. It’s not like DOGE will run out of things to tear through while the Treasury Dept. is in a stall basis (which, I might add is the strategy here…stall so the Lawfare Operation can catch their breath and start presenting legal challenges on every level). The delay on Kash Patel is along these lines as well. Lawfare is overwhelmed and they need to slow it down so they have time to plan properly.
I think the best defense on this is a massively aggressive offense. Make them do this on every level until it becomes farcical. Dive into the DOD. Dive into the IRS. Dive into OMB. Just tear it all apart and make them obstruct at every turn. THEN…publicize the hell out of it with documented proof of maleficence to ram home to the US taxpayer who the bad guy is and why.
Dive into waste in the Judicial Branch!
Cut off funding for the Washington DC District and Appeals Court! No need for impeachment. LOL
The way you bring this rapidly to a close is to arrest the judge for obstruction of justice. Then you tell the government employees that anybody who interferes in the ongoing criminal investigation will be arrested for obstruction of justice.
This is the most comm9n sense approach I have heard. Perhaps it’s time for AG Bondi to get involved. OMB just discovered The Treasury Department illegally paid out $514 BILLION in 2024.
Sidney Powell https://abs-0.twimg.com/emoji/v2/svg/1f1fa-1f1f8.svg Attorney, Author, Gladiator
@SidneyPowell1
This calls for an immediate writ of Mandamus by @PamBondi
@EagleEdMartin
See Flynn Petition for Writ https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5e80e0d236405d1c7b8eaec9/t/5ec4222cf1ca5608a0eefecd/1589912108756/Petition+%28filed%29.pdf
Not a Writ of Mandamus, a Writ of Prohibition.
Mandamus forces a government official to do something. Prohibition forces a judge not to do something.
“Writs of prohibition are sometimes issued to prohibit a lower court from issuing orders over matters over which it has no jurisdiction . Alternatively, the writ may also be used to prevent re- litigating issues that have already been decided by a higher court.”
There is no “high crime and misdemeanor”. The executive branch controls the personnel under it, not the judiciary. Basic constitution.
President Trump cannot uphold the rule of law only sometimes. Situational ethics and values are the currency of the Dems.
DOD is where the big money waste, fraud, and abuse are happening and therefore where the cuts REALLY can make a significant different. Crickets so far from Elon/DOGE on DOD. Why is that exactly.
Of course Elon’s up to his crazy eyeballs with DOD contracts, maybe that’s one reason. I’m sure there’ll be excuses from some commenters here. But as if often encouraged — we need to start asking the right F-ing questions. Is this whole thing real, or not? Is it a data/power grab by Elon – with a few shiny objects tossed toward MAGA along the way– or is it real? Going into DOD is where the rubber meets the road.
Sweet baby Jesus, there’s $1/2T to cut just on illegal payments to CONgressionally unauthorized entities.
It doesn’t get easier than that.
.
Don’t want to interfere right now with what Pete Hegseth needs to do.
.
Agree but getting the fraud and corruption out of there — without Hegseth himself being mired in the fray of it — might be of help.
That said, I’m very uneasy with transhumanist billionaire, who’s late to the MAGA cause and who hasn’t firewalled his staggering business conflicts of interest being the head of this spear at all. Love the “flood the zone” approach — wish we had a different “general” than Elon.
They don’t have the votes to impeach. I say ignore it and appeal it. It’s patently unconstitutional on its face. An ex Parte hearing is intended only for the most dire of circumstances. Which clearly this is not.
The only impeachment needed here is impeaching the judge. If the GOP had any guts they would file those articles on Monday.
Or COngress can abolish their court.
Love it
OK, so somebody corrected me above, this is not a NY judge, this is a Federal judge in NY. So has some clout.
This is obviously a DS attempt to stall. The Trump team no doubt was expecting something like this, and I bet we’ll see some response by AG Bondi’s office quickly. Give them a day or two, folks, this BS was dumped out so recently it hasn’t even had time for the high level stink to wear off, LOL !!!
One thing about an action like this is that it is so transparently obvious if given the right focus to the attention of We the People that if Trump’s team can figure out the right way to publicize it, it will result in political backfire on the stinking perps. I can hear it on all the talk shows now ‘Everyone, including the Dems, say they want to stop waste and fraud by the Federal Govt, but they want to tie DOGE’s hands so they cannot identify, expose, and delete all the waste and fraud.’
So the Republicants will do their usual “but we REALLY tried” before caving. Or not? Will they FINALLY just ignore the corrupt judiciary?
Congress is empowered by the Constitution to totally redress and reform the judiciary, nationwide. All the Congress needs is…balls…and a commitment to common sense and common decency.
Which is difficult when the corrupt judiciary is doing their bidding…
And time…which President Trump and we do not have.
Congress are partners in this corrupt system of theft by choice. Anyone with integrity bails after one or two terms.
Neither party gives a damn about flood victims, fire victims, the homeless, crime in the inner cities, illegal gangbangers imported by the millions
–or tainted water, air, and soil.
If the IC wants to meddle in foreign politics or wars — so what?
If the new pet dujour is a medically castrated transgender child– who cares?
The only thing those in the federal bureaucracy give a damn about is attaining wealth, and retaining power.
It’s a damned shame that these soulless POS excuses for human beings are what President Trump’s administration is forced to work with.
This!^ I feel another “shucks well we will get em next time” coming on….The corrupt judiciary needs to be dealt with. It hasn’t been and they will continue the lawfare until this administration takes them on.
The Congress needs to start impeaching all these activist judges — that is their duty.
They can’t possibly get 14 Senate Democrats to convict.
The those “senate democrats” will go on record as, again, not giving a crap about America.
And as for those congressional “democrats”…why haven’t they been doing their jobs? Oversight my butt…
Believable and scarey.
At this point Trump really should just go full Andrew Jackson. He has nothing left to lose and everything to gain.
This judge ought to first run for president and win before attempting to get involved in executive branch decisions and actions.
Judge activists have been a problem for a very long time.
The USMC just passed a financial audit, GEOTUS should borrow a few Lance Corporals to escort the DOGE workers as they go about the lawful work they are doing, and if anybody at Treasury wants to go all Elliot Ness on Uncle Sam’s Misguided Children, more power to them.
I doubt that NY or DOJ would stop them either.
… Under MARTIAL LAW as noted below.
OK, Maybe just give everyone at Treasury a two week layoff…
If I were Trump
I would ignore it
They can’t let them start this same ole lawfare crap
They just can’t
if they do let stop the audit I’m done with this crap
Their only problem is it will backfire. They “won” the battle, but will lose the war permanently.
Can anyone fire that Judge?
Wow, the evil doers are scared of being found out!
Congress can but doesn’t have the courage.
Nor the votes.
Perhaps he should be investigated. As Hokkoda says above make it so that DOGE is conducting a criminal investigation. The judge is obstructing Justice.
Congress can impeach these judges. That’s how they get “fired”.
It requires 67 votes in the Senate to convict. They will never get 14 Democrats to vote with them. Waste of time.
Never hold up
Eeeeek.
This is proof President Trump and DOGE are over the target if they’re getting this desperate.
Investigate the Judge. If he has any connections to USAID frog march him out on charges of conspiracy to commit fraud against the United States Government and announce investigations against every AG who launched this lawsuit.
Any attempt to interfere by anyone will be declared Obstruction of Justice by the DoJ (make the Left live by its own stupid rules) and regardless of position you’ll be locked up in solitary like the J6ers without a hearing until the investigation is concluded.
Scorch the Earth. The American people are awake enough now to see what’s happening. There is no will for impeachment; even trying would probably break out pitchforks.
Desperation makes you stupid and this is about as stupid as it gets.
This is now a RICO CASE!
RICO, Soviet!
Rabid animals backed into a corner.
Did you catch this part?
Elon said “I was told that there are currently over $100B/year of entitlements payments to individuals with no SSN or even a temporary ID number. If accurate, this is extremely suspicious.”
Over $100 BILLION is being sent every year to people in America with no Social Security number
This may be the biggest money laundering scandal since Ukraine, ActBlue, and all the other globalist scams
This is why Democrats are freaking out – their DC gravy train was just exposed
If Pam Bondi opens an investigation and subpoenas all relevant Treasury records and Scott Bessent delivers them to DOJ 48 hours later,
Who has any standing to file an objection to the subpoena?
I wonder. Are the dems helping the Fed keep banks afloat?
Yes
If they can get a cherry picked judge to make this ruling so quickly, why isn’t it possible to get a rapid appeal to overturn it?
Pam. Calling Pam. Where are you Pam
Time to declare MARTIAL LAW for the “UNCONSTRAINED RUN on the TREASURY” that THREATENS to BANKRUPT the NATION?
Concurrently, SHUT DOWN ALL Treasury Disbursements until SCOTUS has RULED
… in order to STOP-the-RUN until proper safeguards have been CERTIFIED by the Officials the Judge has REMOVED.
I have missed you
Thank you for postng
TY!
.
Muh, democracy, right?
Fifteen states ruling over 35 others is a mob rule, not a representative republic.
Just like to point out a few things that nullify this idiot judge’s order:
My Dog is smarter than This “judge”.
It’s a United States District Judge in Manhattan.
A US District Judge who seems to have no knowledge of the Constitution, or that “Read Only” access to a data system literally means DOGE cannot change any data, programming, connectivity, disbursements, to anyone. DOGE can only analyze data and provide results of the analysis. If the Secretary of the Treasury gave DOGE Read Only access, it absolutely had to come with NDA’s regarding personally identifiable data. Manhattan seems to have a lot of insane judges.
The judge is following a variation of the old trial lawyer adage,
“If the facts are against you, pound on the law. If the law is against you, pound on the facts. If the law and facts are against you, pound on the table.”
The judge is pounding on the table.
He can pound sand for all I care.
Ignore his ass.
Yes, he is. That said, the “harm” the 15 State AGs claim: to wit, DOGE actions will cause “cybersecurity risks” is unfounded by Read Only access, that DOGE actions will put “vast amounts of funding in peril” is nonsense. DOGE can “Only” analyze data and report the results of analysis. It is up to the Secretary of the Treasury to make any decisions affecting Treasury, or for the Executive to exert impoundment authorities. The Judge is tilting at windmills and justifying actions where there is zero justification. Any foundational claims by the 15 AGs are moot because DOGE cannot change anything in any data system or affect, directly, any disbursements. The “judge” is simply trying to interfere with a lawful audit, by lawfully appointed persons, by a Constitutionally confirmed Secretary of the Treasury, with an Executive Directive to ferret out wasteful or unlawful disbursements. This “judge” is a clown.
also see: https://x.com/amuse/status/1888310498036416643
“Judge Engelmayer should be barred from hearing any future cases related to executive authority, and every Democrat lawyer who enabled this attack on the Constitution should be sanctioned.
This is not a legal dispute—it is a coup by the judiciary against the elected government.”
I prefer the Andrew Jackson approach: “He has made his decision. Now let him enforce it”.
If you’re uncovering fraud and someone yells “stop”, that person is perpetrating (or the beneficiary of) the fraud. Pretty simple.
Ignore the ruling, until final adjudication is complete by the USSC. They have made it, now
Let them
Enforce it. Trump should address this issue from the Oval Office immediately and have the judge arrested for sedition.
Being as they have no authority of the federal government, can they not just ignore it?
sounds like the judge needs a midnight swat team at his door
terminate the people running the payroll system for the judge
“Suspend” all Treasury Officials with payment roles until it can be CERTIFIED that there are ZERO Financial-Gain relationships from the Run-on-Treasury Illegal Disbursements amongst ANY of the Officials, the Judge, the AGs filing the suit and ANY-and-ALL of their LIFETIME DONORS & DONEES?
Again, this has probably been gamed with Trump’s legal team playing the OPFOR, deploying Lawfare. This over-reaction is what they would be looking for to get the public fully behind DOGE’s agenda and reinforce the reality of the DS, but also force the SC to intervene and stop any further attempts at judicial sabotage. I also agree with the poster who said that Elon’s digital Delta Force have already recovered the majority of the key information they
“The DATA is in the CLOUD” and has now been encrypted, backed up and replicated across ALL CLOUD SERVERS supporting every AI Service …
Expose more sunlight on the evil NFG Left! They still think they make the rules! The effing Democrats are close to being a thing of the past!
Fire another hundred of these cockroaches! When they start bitching about that, fire another hundred!
Not a federal judge. Manhattan district court. No authority
United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. He’s federal.
If he was a state judge, it would be New York Supreme Court-Trial Division.
He is a US District judge from Manhattan.
Wrong. He’s federal. The tell is the word “district” court.
I stand corrected. Thx
I hope the DOJ filed an emergency appeal to the Second Circuit today.
Which is overseen by the “wise Latina”, Sonia Sortamanure.
Who has access to your personal financial information…
Every state tax agency, bank, credit card company, insurance company, stock brokerage, mortgage company, medical provider and even car dealerships have outside contractors, computer consultants and computer software contractors with complete and unlimited access to your personal financial information including social security number, bank account numbers, date of birth, social security payments DMV number, relatives etc…
…and NO Judge ever said that it was illegal! How is DOGE any different?
Lol…do you really think DOGE doesn’t already have what they need. Warning beaureaucrats…honeypot!
Obama did this……where was the rage…..
Cause of Action (CoA) filed a lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for refusing to release documents that would identify the names of individuals and businesses of which President Obama has requested tax records.
https://causeofaction.org/cause-of-action-sues-irs-for-president-obamas-tax-record-requests/
Treasury IG admits over 2,500 pages of taxpayer records were sent to the Obama White House
https://causeofaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Response-to-Cause-of-Action-FOIA-Request.pdf
https://causeofaction.org/tag/irs/page/9/
I can read any more.
I’m sure PDJT and his crew expected this and have a plan in place.
I going to have a couple-three-four cocktails and turn in.
Good night all.
Great idea! I’ll join you! Wild Turkey on the rocks. 😎🥃
https://redstate.com/jenniferoo/2025/02/08/judge-slaps-back-afl-cio-challenge-to-doge-access-to-department-of-labor-records-n2185357
To contrast, the AFL-CIO tried to kick DOGE out of the Department of Labor, and a Bush43 USDC judge said, “No standing.”
Federal judges have too much power. They need to be reigned in big time.
To quote Andrew Jackson: ” Let him enforce it, I have the army.” If I were Trump, I would ignore the ruling and continue. Let him stop me.
Best to neither confirm nor deny compliance. Make them have to prove it.
I would imagine that Trump et al have in place a thoroughly war gamed contingency plan — a “Battle Drill”, as one might call it.
They have obviously put considerable time and effort in the plans to deconstruct the Deep State through DOGE actions. This wouls be a part of that planning.
Let’s see what shakes out next 24 hours.
And I seriously doubt Elon MUSK was caught unawares …. I got the same feeling with his X-post evincing “outrage” as I do watching Claude Rains as Captain Renault in Casablanca:
“I’m shocked, SHOCKED, to find that gambling is going on in here.”
Croupier: “Your winnings sir.”
Last time I checked, I think this is called a coup!
So what comes next, another liberal, radical judge rules PT can’t enter the Oval Office?
Hey, Supreme Court are you awake?
You’re actually threatening a Fed Judge on social media? Wait for the knock on your door.
At what point does Justice Roberts step in and act like a Chief Justice? The Federal Judiciary is under his oversight. His oath forces him to uphold the Constitution.
No, there is an appellate process.
And on what planet does a (corrupt leftist) New York judge have any jurisdiction over the Executive Branch of the FEDERAL government?
Ignore him and let him try to enforce it, LOL!!
He is a federal judge in Manhattan.
I stand corrected.
One thing Trump team can do it shine light on this attempt by the cockroaches on all the talk shows.
Highlight that the Dems talk big about ‘get rid of Waste and Fraud, dada, dada, dada’, but when push comes to shove, here they are trying to block DOGE from identifying and eliminating waste and fraud.
The only acceptable response is Jacksonian – “He has made his ruling, now let him enforce it.”
Secretary Bessent needs to show up Sunday morning with US Marshals in tow.
The House needs to vote to impeach this Judge before a week has passed.
So now the President of the United States is an UNELECTED judge in New York?
Ignore the judge.
Can the Trump administration hire the DOGE kids on as civil servants?
https://hotair.com/ed-morrissey/2025/02/07/the-dirty-secret-of-doge-dems-built-it-n3799582
FTA: As attorney Tom Renz explained in a lengthy Twitter/X thread, Trump took an agency launched by Barack Obama in 2014 called the US Digital Service and renamed it the US DOGE Service, and made Musk a special adviser to it. Trump then installed Musk’s team as US DOGE Service staff and retasked the agency to find and expose all government spending in the executive branch.
Also FTA: As with much of the Democrat hysteria over the last three weeks about USAID and other DOGE targets, the real lesson is that they have been hoist by their own executive-power petards. They built the machines by which Trump and Musk have engineered the destruction of their bureaucratic activism. They can’t stop him now because Democrats designed these engines to prevent them from being stopped at all.
The Secretary of the Treasury Department, Duly appointed and Confirmed is Removed from overseeing the Treasury Dept ???
by a “District” Feral Judge???
Time for the Andrew Jackson policy…. The judge can send his army, and President Trump can defend the Treasury Sec with his army.
Keep telling me this isn’t a CW
Of the three levels of U.S. court judges, District Judge Paul Engelmayer is at the lowest level, way below SCOTUS and well below the Appellate Courts.
In what world can the ’emergency injunction’ of a lowly district court judge out of the same Manhattan district that’s been trying to bankrupt and imprison Trump and his allies for years thwart and disrupt the reform efforts of the President, DOGE and his Secretary of the Treasury?
There are 94 district courts, for God’s sakes, many of them presided over by Democrat operatives. How many other ’emergency injunctions’ do they have lined up to follow Engelmayer?
And why is another U.S. District Judge, Jeannette A. Vargas, going to rule on the injunction? Why wouldn’t that go directly to the Court of Appeals?
If the answer to my first question is this world, we sorely need a Constitutional Amendment to limit the authority of district judges.
dont need a Constitutional Amendment, the Congress decides the courts and their jurisdiction except the Supreme Court. If we had any BALLS in Congress they would make that clear.
simply ignore these America hating judges and their rulings
full speed ahead!
Stated another way – NY Judge rules Trump is NOT President and the Senate did NOT approve a new Secretary of the Treasury.
SCOTUS needs to immediately remove the judge!
A NY based district judge should have zero jurisdiction outside the geography of the district. Congress has needed to fix this issue for a hundred years. In addition, DC was not a party to the motion. So the argument can be made that the ruling applies only in the named states. IMO the correct approach to fight this is twofold. 1. Ignore it. 2. Appeal it.
The strategy they have settled on is now obvious. Use the media, Congress, courts, NGOs, activists etc to throw sand in any gear they can find to slow the momentum.
My third suggestion is POTUS going live and calling them out, pointing out to all those who voted for him, and those who did not but have gotten a taste of their wasted tax dollars, exactly what is being done and naming names.
There is a case in front of SCOTUS (can’t remember the name) that addresses this issue.
Right now a federal district judge can issue an order that has national effect. It shouldn’t have effect beyond his district.
That’s why the left went to San Francisco judges during Trump45.
…and Hawaii to a judge appointed by Obama and in his law school class!
Ignore it like Biden did