Judge Tanya Chutkan has said that she doesn’t believe she can impose a general restraining order on Elon Musk and his budget-cutting Department Of Government Efficiency (DOGE) over the alleged firing of thousands of federal employees.
Why It Matters
Musk, the CEO of Tesla, has vowed to cut up to $2 trillion a year from the federal budget as co-director of DOGE.
Fourteen states are fighting to curb the new department’s alleged activities: New Mexico, Arizona, Michigan, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.
Unlike other legal action taken against DOGE this month, the lawsuit seeks to tackle DOGE as an entity, rather than focus on individual cuts it has made to specific agencies or government departments.
Newsweek sought email comment from DOGE and Musk on Tuesday.
Kevin Lamarque/Getty Images
What To Know
Chutkan oversaw Special Counsel Jack Smith’s election fraud indictment against President Donald Trump and was known for rejecting requests by his lawyers to delay the case and completely rejected the argument that Smith was illegally appointed.
However, at a request from 14 states to place a restraining order on DOGE, she appeared skeptical at a hearing on Monday.
“The courts cannot act based on news reports,” she said. “I’m not seeing it so far.”
She asked Department of Justice lawyer Joshua Gardner if he could confirm the plaintiffs’ allegation that thousands of federal employees were fired last week, he replied that he could not “independently” confirm that.
She retorted: “The firing of thousands of federal employees is not a small thing. You haven’t been able to learn if that’s true?”
Later, when Gardner alleged that the plaintiffs had not provided any evidence that “Elon Musk has any formal or actual authority to make any government decisions himself,” Chutkan replied: “I think you stretch too far. I disagree with you there.”
While not finding grounds to immediately impose a restraining order, she held out hope for the plaintiffs that she may do so after hearing more evidence.
She noted that Musk had “access to the entire workings of the federal government.”
“This is essentially a private citizen directing an organization that’s not a federal agency that has access to the entire workings of the federal government to hire, fire, slash contracts, terminate programs, all without any congressional oversight,” she said.
What People Are Saying
In a court filing, New Mexico Attorney General, Raúl Torrez, on behalf of all 14 plaintiff states, urged Chutkan to move quickly, as DOGE is to set begin firing all Department of Education civil rights officers on Wednesday.
“Starting this Wednesday, February 19, 2025, they plan to engage in mass firings of employees at civil rights and employment discrimination offices within ED [Education Department], whose existence is mandated by law.”
“Each of the departments and agencies identified in plaintiffs’ revised proposed order are reflected in recently published DOGE documents as Mr. Musk’s and DOGE’s targets for massive reductions,” the filing states.
What Happens Next
Chutkan said that she will try to issue an order within 24 hours of Monday’s hearing.
During the court hearing, she suggested that, even if she doesn’t impose a temporary restraining order, she may do so in the future.
