Doge Notches Courtroom Wins As Elon Musk Crusades To Slash Federal Government

Although some parts of President Donald Trump 's agenda are getting bogged down by litigation, Elon Musk 's Department of Government Efficiency is having better luck in the courtroom.

Labor unions, Democrats and federal employees have filed several lawsuits arguing that DOGE is running roughshod over privacy protections or usurping power from other branches of government.

But judges appointed by Democratic and Republican presidents haven't always gone along with those arguments, at least so far. Most notably, DOGE critics are failing to obtain temporary restraining orders that would prevent Musk's team from accessing sensitive government databases.

"It is not the job of the federal courts to police the security of the information systems in the executive branch," wrote U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss in a case involving the Office of Personnel Management. Moss was appointed by President Barack Obama.

The success is striking given the other challenges that Trump has faced in the judicial system , which has blocked - at least temporarily - his efforts to limit birthright citizenship, freeze congressionally authorized foreign aid and stop some healthcare services for transgender youth.