{"id":320,"date":"2025-02-10T22:54:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-10T22:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2025\/02\/10\/trump-argues-that-courts-cannot-block-elon-musks-doge-team-from-treasury-systems-the-new-york-times\/"},"modified":"2025-02-10T22:54:00","modified_gmt":"2025-02-10T22:54:00","slug":"trump-argues-that-courts-cannot-block-elon-musks-doge-team-from-treasury-systems-the-new-york-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2025\/02\/10\/trump-argues-that-courts-cannot-block-elon-musks-doge-team-from-treasury-systems-the-new-york-times\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump Argues That Courts Cannot Block Elon Musk\u2019s DOGE Team From Treasury Systems &#8211; The New York Times"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"site-content\">\n<article id=\"story\">\n<div id=\"top-wrapper\">\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/#after-top\">SKIP ADVERTISEMENT<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\">\n<p>You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>The president\u2019s lawyers argued that the distinction between civil servants and political appointees was unworkable and unconstitutional. A hearing is set for Friday.<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"imageblock-wrapper\">\n<figure aria-label=\"media\" role=\"group\">\n<div data-testid=\"imageContainer-children-Image\"><picture><source media=\"(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 3),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 3dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 288dpi)\" ><source media=\"(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 2),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 2dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 192dpi)\" ><source media=\"(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 1),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 1dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 96dpi)\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Elon Musk, in a suit, walks along a red and blue carpet past an American flag and blue velvet curtains. \" src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/02\/10\/multimedia\/10sdny-doge-tjgf\/10sdny-doge-tjgf-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&#038;auto=webp&#038;disable=upscale\"   decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\"><\/picture><\/div><figcaption data-testid=\"photoviewer-children-ImageCaption\"><span>The filing by the president\u2019s lawyers came in response to a lawsuit arguing that giving Elon Musk\u2019s aides access to the Treasury Department\u2019s systems was unlawful.<\/span><span><span>Credit&#8230;<\/span><span><span aria-hidden=\"false\">Kenny Holston\/The New York Times<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<ul>\n<li><time datetime=\"2025-02-10T17:21:32-05:00\"><span>Feb. 10, 2025<\/span><span>Updated <span>5:21 p.m. ET<\/span><\/span><\/time><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<section name=\"articleBody\">\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<p>Lawyers for the Trump administration argued late Sunday that a court order blocking Elon Musk\u2019s aides from entering the Treasury Department\u2019s payment and data systems impinged on the president\u2019s absolute powers over the executive branch, which they said the courts could not usurp.<\/p>\n<p>The administration\u2019s arguments came in a response to a lawsuit filed Friday night <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/07\/nyregion\/attorneys-general-trump-musk-suit.html\" title>by 19 state attorneys general<\/a>, led by Letitia James of New York, who won a temporary pause on Saturday. The lawsuit said the Trump administration\u2019s policy of allowing appointees and \u201cspecial government employees\u201d access to these systems, which contain sensitive information such as bank details and Social Security numbers, was unlawful.<\/p>\n<p>Members of Mr. Musk\u2019s so-called Department of Government Efficiency, which is not actually a department, have been combing through the databases on what it says is a mission to find expenditures to cut. The lawsuit says that the initiative challenges the Constitution\u2019s separation of powers, under which Congress determines government spending.<\/p>\n<p>A U.S. district judge in Manhattan, Paul A. Engelmayer, in an emergency ruling early Saturday morning, ordered such officials who had been granted access to the systems since Jan. 20, Inauguration Day, to \u201cimmediately destroy any and all copies of material downloaded from the Treasury Department\u2019s records and systems.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<p>Judge Engelmayer said in the order that the officials\u2019 access heightened the risk of leaks and of the systems\u2019 vulnerability to hacking. He set a hearing in the case for Friday.<\/p>\n<p>The Trump administration\u2019s motion relies on the so-called unitary executive theory, \u201ca somewhat controversial theory\u201d that says the Constitution gives the president significant power over people within the executive branch, said David Zaring, a professor of legal studies and business ethics at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. The argument is one that Mr. Trump\u2019s administration has asserted often and \u201cto which courts have frankly been relatively sympathetic,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div id=\"optimistic-truncator-a11y\" tabindex=\"-1\">\n<hr>\n<p>Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/myaccount.nytimes.com\/auth\/login?response_type=cookie&#038;client_id=vi&#038;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2025%2F02%2F10%2Fnyregion%2Ftrump-doge-treasury-elon-musk.html&#038;asset=opttrunc\">log into<\/a>\u00a0your Times account, or\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&#038;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2025%2F02%2F10%2Fnyregion%2Ftrump-doge-treasury-elon-musk.html\">subscribe<\/a>\u00a0for all of The Times.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"optimistic-truncator-message\">\n<p>Thank you for your patience while we verify access.<\/p>\n<p>Already a subscriber?\u00a0<a data-testid=\"log-in-link\" href=\"https:\/\/myaccount.nytimes.com\/auth\/login?response_type=cookie&#038;client_id=vi&#038;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2025%2F02%2F10%2Fnyregion%2Ftrump-doge-treasury-elon-musk.html&#038;asset=opttrunc\">Log in<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Want all of The Times?\u00a0<a data-testid=\"subscribe-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&#038;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2025%2F02%2F10%2Fnyregion%2Ftrump-doge-treasury-elon-musk.html\">Subscribe<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<div id=\"bottom-wrapper\">\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/#after-bottom\">SKIP ADVERTISEMENT<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load. The president\u2019s lawyers argued that the distinction between civil servants and political appointees was unworkable and unconstitutional. A hearing is set for Friday. The filing by the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":321,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-320","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=320"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}