Judge clears way for Elon Musk to access data, sack workers

A judge has declined a ­request to block Elon Musk from sacking federal employees and accessing agency data.

Elon Musk in the Oval Office. Picture: AFP

Fourteen Democratic-ruled states had filed suit last week contesting Mr Musk’s legal authority but district judge Tanya Chutkan denied their emergency request to pause his actions.

“Plaintiffs have not carried their burden of showing that they will suffer imminent, irreparable harm absent a temporary restraining order,” Judge Chutkan said.

DOGE is a free-ranging entity run by Mr Musk, the world’s richest person and Mr Trump’s biggest donor. He has taken an assertive role in the administration, with his agency aiming to cut hundreds of billions of dollars in government spending.

His plans have effectively shut some federal agencies, sent thousands of staff members home and sparked legal battles across the country.

The 14 states claimed that Mr Musk and DOGE lacked statutory authority for their actions because he had not been formally nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate.

“(Musk) exercises virtually unchecked power across the Executive Branch, making decisions about expenditures, contracts, government property, regulations, and the very existence of federal agencies,” they said.

In addition, Mr Musk and DOGE had gained access to “sensitive data, information, systems, and technological and ­financial infrastructure across the federal government”.

But Judge Chutkan said “the court is aware that DOGE’s unpredictable actions have resulted in considerable uncertainty and confusion for plaintiffs and many of their agencies and residents”.

“But the ‘possibility’ that ­defendants may take actions that irreparably harm plaintiffs ‘is not enough’,” she said.

A different federal judge last week lifted a freeze he had temporarily imposed on a mass buyout plan offered by the Trump administration to federal workers.

AFP