White House calls blocked DOGE access at Treasury 'absurd and judicial overreach'

The White House is hitting back at a federal judge who issued an order blocking access to the Treasury Department’s payment systems to anyone “other than civil servants with a need for access to perform their job duties.”

The decision, issued early Saturday morning, effectively bars tech billionaire Elon Musk and his inaugural Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) commission from gaining access to the systems.

The White House responded Sunday in a statement criticizing the lawsuit that precipitated the ruling and attacking the federal judge who made the decision.

“These frivolous lawsuits are akin to children throwing pasta at the wall to see if it will stick. Grandstanding government efficiency speaks volumes about those who’d rather delay much-needed change with legal shenanigans than work with the Trump Administration of ridding the government of waste, fraud, and abuse,” White House spokesperson Harrison Fields said in a statement.

“This activist judge has resorted to locking the Senate confirmed Secretary of Treasury out of his role. It’s absurd and judicial overreach,” Fields continued.

U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer’s ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed Friday by 19 Democratic state attorneys general who were worried about access to the information that Musk and his team were getting. Musk’s efforts have sparked concern from Democrats and career public servants at the Treasury Department and other agencies that sensitive private information of citizens could be endangered.

The ruling from Engelmayer, an appointee of former President Obama, lasts until at least Friday when another judge who is permanently overseeing the case will hold a hearing in New York about whether to grant a longer pause. 

“The Court’s firm assessment is that, for the reasons stated by the States, they will face irreparable harm in the absence of injunctive relief,” Engelmayer wrote in his decision.

“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,” the judge continued. 

Engelmayer, in his ruling, ordered anyone who is now blocked from access to the Treasury Department payment system, which doles out trillions of dollars, to destroy any material they’ve already downloaded immediately. 

Musk has since called for the impeachment of the federal judge and expressed his irritation in a few Saturday posts on the social platform X, which he owns.

“A corrupt judge protecting corruption,” Musk wrote in one post at 2:11 a.m. “He needs to be impeached NOW.”