DOGE Treasury Data Block Wrongfully Limits Bessent, DOJ Says

  • Court order is ‘remarkable intrusion’ on Trump power, DOJ says
  • Hearing on a long-lasting injunction is set for Feb. 14 in NYC

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent

Photographer: Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg
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The Trump administration said that a judge’s order blocking Elon Musk’s government efficiency team from accessing Treasury Department payment systems wrongfully prevents Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent from doing his job, adding a new wrinkle to a fight over the handling of the sensitive payment data.

In a filing Sunday, the government argued that a temporary restraining order limiting “all political appointees” from accessing the data should be vacated because it ties the hands of high-level employees like Bessent, his chief of staff and his deputy secretary.