Musk’s DOGE faces legal scrutiny as judge calls rare court hearing on Presidents’ day holiday

A US judge scheduled a rare holiday court hearing on Monday, in a case brought by Democratic state attorneys general seeking to protect major federal agencies from Elon Musk’s government cost-cutting team known as DOGE.

US District Judge, Tanya Chutkan in Washington, on Sunday called the hearing for Monday, the Presidents’ Day holiday when federal courts are closed.

She did not say why she ordered the hearing, but on Friday she heard arguments by 13 Democratic state attorneys general for a temporary restraining order that would bar Musk’s DOGE, or Department of Government Efficiency, team from accessing information systems at several government agencies including the departments of Labour, Education, Health and Human Services, Energy, Transportation, Commerce, and the Office of Personnel Management.

DOGE had swept through federal agencies since Republican Donald Trump became president last month and put Musk in charge of rooting out wasteful spending as part of Trump’s dramatic overhaul of government, which included thousands of job cuts on Friday.

The attorneys general also asked the judge to prevent Musk and DOGE team members from firing government employees or putting them on leave. The attorneys general have requested the order to last for 14 days, giving them time to file legal briefs in pursuit of a more permanent order.

Chutkan did not issue a ruling at Friday’s hearing.

  

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