A US federal judge blocked the world’s richest man Elon Musk and his government department from accessing the US treasury’s payment systems – now Musk wants him impeached
Loudmouth billionaire Elon Musk has called for the impeachment of a US federal judge who blocked him and his government department from accessing the Treasury Department’s payment systems.
The world’s richest man was left fuming after US District Judge Paul Engelmayer blocked the Treasury Department from giving access to anyone “other than civil servants with a need for access to perform their job duties”. The order means special government employees like Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) are prohibited from gaining access to the system which forks out trillions of dollars.
In response to a post by conservative commentator Glenn Beck, Musk wrote: “A corrupt judge protecting corruption. He needs to be impeached NOW!” Earlier, he said “it’s time” in response to a post that asked “Can we have a serious conversation about starting to impeach some of these judges”.
DOGE was set up to discover and eliminate what the Trump administration has deemed to be wasteful government spending. DOGE’s access to Treasury records, as well as its inspection of various government agencies, has ignited widespread concern among critics over the increasing power of Musk, while supporters have cheered at the idea of reining in bloated government finances.
One person on X called for a “three-strike rule”, adding the suggestion: “If you get overturned by an upper court more than three times per year, you lose your bench.”
It led to a case being brought to a federal court in New York by 19 state attorneys general, all of them Democrats, over concerns DOGE was allegedly given access to the Treasury payment system in violation of federal law.
The Trump administration then agreed access to be limited to two people in DOGE, before Engelmayer’s ruling made more sprawling prohibitions.
The judge, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, said in his ruling that anyone who is now blocked from accessing the Treasury system must also destroy any material they have downloaded.
Engelmayer said there was a “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 ruling is temporary and is in place until Friday next week when a hearing will take place to decide if the pause should be extended.
There is also another suit regarding DOGE’s access to the US Education Department, while a judge has already denied the national trade union centre The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (UFL-CIO) from preventing DOGE accessing Labor Department information.
The Hill reported that the group has indicated its plans to expand the lawsuit to other agencies including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Department of Health and Human Services.
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