Here Are All The Major Lawsuits Against Trump And Musk—As Judge Cuts Off DOGE’s Treasury Access
Topline
A New York judge has temporarily barred Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency from accessing a sensitive Treasury payment system, after over a dozen Democratic states sued late Friday—the latest in a slew of legal actions as Democrats and others fight President Donald Trump and cost-cutting czar Musk in court.
Timeline
Feb. 8Judge Paul Engelmayer ruled political appointees and “special government employees”—like members of Musk’s team—must be cut of from access from the Treasury’s systems until another New York-based judge can rule on the issue next week.
Engelmeyer’s ruling came after a group of 19 Democratic state attorneys general sued Trump over DOGE’s Treasury access, arguing the move put personal information at risk, exceeded Treasury’s legal authority and could lead to DOGE unconstitutionally blocking spending that’s already been approved by Congress (a court order in a separate lawsuit said only two DOGE staffers can have read-only access).
Feb. 7A group of states that sued Trump over last week’s sweeping federal grant freeze alleged in a filing they “continue to be denied access to federal funds” even though a judge put the freeze on hold, claiming “scattershot outages” have cut them off from accessing several Biden-era grant programs.
Feb. 7Judge Carl Nichols—, a Trump appointee, blocked a plan to put 2,200 U.S. Agency for International Development staff on paid leave as of Friday, part of Trump’s gambit to wind down the foreign aid agency, multiple news outlets reported—a temporary reprieve following a lawsuit by a federal employees’ union calling Trump’s efforts to dismantle USAID without Congress’ permission “unconstitutional and illegal.”
Feb. 7The Justice Department agreed to not name the FBI agents involved in the Jan. 6 investigation before a judge rules on two lawsuits from FBI agents that argued the dissemination of the agents’ names could threaten their employment, reputation and wellbeing.
Feb. 7The University of California Student Association sued the Department of Education accusing Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency of illegally accessing “sensitive personal and financial information” of about 42 million federal student loan borrowers.
Feb. 6Boston-based Judge George O’Toole paused a Thursday deadline for over 2 million federal employees to accept a buyout offer—part of Trump and Musk’s cost-cutting push—as he considers whether to grant a request by federal workers’ unions who sued to block the buyouts, extending the deadline until Monday.
Feb. 6Judge John Coughenour in Seattle extended his pause on Trump’s day-one executive order rescinding birthright citizenship for the children of undocumented or temporary immigrants, in response to a lawsuit brought by Democratic-led states, writing, “The president cannot change, limit, or qualify this Constitutional right via an executive order.”
Feb. 6D.C.-based Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly said only two Musk-affiliated staffers can access the Treasury Department’s payment system on a “read only” basis, after workers’ unions sued the Treasury amid reports Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency accessed sensitive records. (One of the employees given access has reportedly since resigned over racist tweets.)
Feb. 5A second judge —Deborah L. Boardman of Maryland—blocked Trump’s policy rescinding birthright citizenship, in response to a lawsuit brought by nonprofits representing undocumented pregnant women.
Feb. 4Judge Royce C. Lamberth in D.C. paused Trump’s restrictions on transgender women being incarcerated in women’s prisons and federal prisons providing gender-affirming medical treatment, after multiple inmates sued to block the policy.
Feb. 3District Judge Loren L. Alikhan broadly blocked the Trump administration’s memo halting almost all federal assistance—even after the White House claimed it had been rescinded—while litigation brought by nonprofit groups that receive government funds moves forward.
Jan. 31The Trump administration’s memo pausing most federal assistance was partially blocked, as Judge John J. McConnell Jr. ruled the Trump administration cannot withhold funding from the Democratic-led states that sued to block the funding freeze.
Jan. 26O’Toole prohibited law enforcement from transferring an incarcerated transgender woman to a male prison facility—at least while litigation filed by the inmate moves forward—after Trump stripped transgender Americans of their legal protections, including being incarcerated at prisons aligned with their gender identities.
Jan. 23Coughenour paused Trump’s order rescinding birthright citizenship, the first major ruling against the second Trump administration.
Jan. 20The first lawsuit against Trump’s administration was filed minutes after he was sworn into office, as public interest law group National Security Counselors argued DOGE should be classified as a federal advisory board that has “fairly balanced” membership and follows public transparency rules.
Who Else Is Suing Trump?
Lawsuits have been filed against a number of other Trump administration directives in cases that haven’t resulted in any rulings yet, including pending cases on Trump’s immigration policies like asylum restrictions, raids on sanctuary cities, immigration officers entering houses of worship, and restricting grants to immigration-related groups. Multiple other transgender rights-focused cases are pending, including litigation against Trump’s transgender military ban and minors receiving gender-affirming care, as well as a lawsuit challenging Trump’s broader restrictions on diversity, equity and inclusion policies. Other lawsuits that are still pending include litigation against the Justice Department targeting agents who worked on Jan. 6-related cases, Trump’s “Schedule F” that makes it easier to fire career civil servants, Trump’s firing of National Labor Relations Board member Gwynne A. Wilcox, the Office of Personnel Management allegedly storing emails on an unsecured server and the government removing health data from federal websites.