A federal judge rejected a request from states’ attorneys general to place a temporary restraining order on Elon Musk and the Trump administration’s government-slashing effort known as the so-called Department of Government Efficiency.
The attorneys general “have not carried their burden of showing that they will suffer imminent, irreparable harm absent a temporary restraining order,” Judge Tanya Chutkan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia wrote in an order Tuesday.
A coalition of states asked the court to issue a temporary restraining order against Musk and his team of government downsizers. The states’ request argues that Musk is “an unelected, unconfirmed government official” who “is exercising unprecedented executive authority” in violation of the Constitution.
“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,” Chutkan wrote. “But the ‘possibility’ that Defendants may take actions that irreparably harm Plaintiffs ‘is not enough.’”
Notably, Chutkan said, “Plaintiffs legitimately call into question what appears to be the unchecked authority of an unelected individual and an entity that was not created by Congress and over which it has no oversight.”
Fed worker firings
In a separate lawsuit, another federal judge Tuesday appeared reluctant to issue a temporary restraining order on the administration’s efforts to purge employees.
Five national labor unions, including the National Treasury Employees Union, went before Judge Christopher Cooper of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to argue for a temporary pause of the administration’s moves to fire thousands of federal employees.
But Cooper questioned whether the unions should have first lodged complaints at the Federal Labor Relations Authority and the Merit Systems Protection Board. He said he will take the matter under advisement.
Allison Giles, an attorney for the unions, said the extent of the firings was too massive to be handled by the administrative agencies.
“We are facing an existential threat,” she told Cooper. “These are unprecedented times.”
The unions had argued that they will lose money and bargaining power as their membership declines. The NTEU alone has had 1,250-1,500 dues-paying members fired and told Cooper in court documents filed Tuesday that it expects the number will increase “substantially” this week.
The initial firings have cost the union more than half-a-million dollars in revenue, it told the court.
An attorney for the government told Cooper that the complaints are “well within the wheelhouse” of the administrative agencies that handle labor complaints.
But Cooper questioned whether the agencies could handle constitutional claims, adding, “this you will have to admit, is a fairly unprecedented set of claims.”
