Donald Trump scores win in suit challenging Elon Musk's cost-cutting powers

New York: Donald Trump's administration scored a victory on Tuesday when a judge ruled in its favor in a challenge by a group of state to the authority of the Republican president's chief government cost-cutter Elon Musk.

Washington-based US District Judge Tanya Chutkan made the ruling in a lawsuit by Democratic attorneys general from 14 states who argued that Musk, the billionaire Tesla CEO, lacks legal authority to direct the mass firing of federal employees or access sensitive government computer systems.

The attorneys general argued that their ability to carry out educational and other programs were at risk. They accused Musk's team of unlawfully accessing data at federal agencies and directing a purge of the 2.3 million-strong federal workforce. The lawsuit was filed by more than a dozen states and announced by state attorneys general from New Mexico, Michigan and Arizona were the ones who announced the lawsuit.

Musk spearheads an entity called the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. It has swept through federal agencies slashing thousands of jobs and dismantling various programs since Trump returned to office last month and put Musk in charge of rooting out wasteful spending as part of the president's dramatic overhaul of government.

The state attorneys general have argued that Musk wields the kind of power that can be exercised only by an officer of the government who has been nominated by the president and confirmed by the US. Senate under language in the U.S. Constitution called the Appointments Clause. The states also have said DOGE itself has not been authorized by Congress.

The lawsuit seeks to bar DOGE from accessing information systems at the departments of labor, education, health and human services, energy, transportation and commerce, and at the Office of Personnel Management.

They also asked Chutkan, who was appointed by Democratic former President Barack Obama, to prevent Musk and his DOGE team members from firing federal employees or putting them on leave.

An attorney for the administration told Chutkan on February 14 that he had not been able to confirm mass government layoffs took place.

Around 20 lawsuits have been filed in various federal courts challenging Musk's authority, which have led to mixed results.

U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas in New York extended a temporary block on DOGE on Friday that prevented Musk's team from accessing Treasury systems responsible for trillions of dollars of payments.

But also on Friday, U.S. District Judge John Bates in Washington declined a request by unions and nonprofits to temporarily block Musk's team from accessing records at the departments of Labor, and Health and Human Services, as well as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Most of the judges handling DOGE cases have not yet issued rulings.