A US federal judge today blocked the new Commission on Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by billionaire Elon Musk, from having control over the Treasury Department's payment system.

This is a new judicial obstacle to the reform initiated by US President Donald Trump.

Judge Paul Engelmayer issued an emergency order barring “all political appointees,” “all special government agents,” and “all government officials affiliated with an agency that is not part of the Department” from accessing Treasury Department data.

The temporary order, which is in effect until a hearing scheduled for February 14, states that anyone who has had access to Treasury Department records since Trump's inauguration on January 20 must "immediately destroy all copies of the material obtained." Musk's associates took control of the Treasury Department's payment systems a few days ago, which opposition Democrats call "extremely dangerous."

According to Judge Engelmayer, without the ban, the state “would suffer irreparable harm.” He noted that DOGE would create “a risk of disclosure of sensitive and confidential information and an increased risk of hacking into Treasury Department systems.”

Unions and human rights groups have strongly opposed the world's richest man taking over the Treasury's payroll system.

The lawsuit against this plan was filed by prosecutors from 19 US states, claiming that the Trump administration violated the law by expanding access to sensitive Treasury Department data to DOGE staff, a commission that Trump has tasked with reducing government spending.