Paul Adam Engelmayer is the judge who granted the temporary restraining order against Elon Musk. It is one of the most lunatic lawsuits and court orders this law graduate has ever seen.
Late on Friday it was reported that New York Federal District Judge Paul Adam Engelmayer had made a court order restraining Elon Musk and DOGE from access to US Treasury records, along with anyone other than vetted employees of the Bureau of Fiscal Services (excluding employees who are political appointees). This was based on a without-notice application by 19 Democrat-run US States making histrionic allegations that DOGE was accessing the systems, “for the purpose of blocking federal funds from reaching beneficiaries who do not align with the President’s agenda”, a plainly counter-factual assertion when it is well known that DOGE only has access for the purpose of an audit. The bizarre order, which on a facial reading bars Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent from seeing his own department’s records appears to this UK law graduate to be totally unconstitutional. Trump’s lawyers have moved swiftly to seek the order be overturned and had a compelling emergency motion filed by Sunday. All the documents are on the public New York Court system: lunatic grounds for the Democrat injunction application [1], notice of motion to overturn by Trump lawyers [2], grounds for Trump application [3].
Readers will know I am qualified in UK law. I do not practice as a solicitor (attorney) but I have passed the exams and have a Master’s Degree in Law. I do help people in court pro-bono as a McKenzie Friend and I have been praised in Parliament and by judges for my legal skills assisting the vulnerable in legal cases and in court. For example, here is a link to the minutes of Parliament (Hansard) – a petition before Parliament about a case where I stopped a woman wrongly being declared mentally incapable. Part of my course work for my qualifications involved some American Federal Law. I have also successfully represented myself in libel and other High Court cases. Sometimes I read US case law for pure interest and entertainment.
I feel confident to say that Paul Engelmayer has made the most obviously unlawful injunction I have ever, ever seen. The whole Democrat case reads like the rantings of a raving lunatic. Neither the US Constitution nor statute make any meaningful distinction between political appointees and civil servants. Also, as Trump’s lawyers kindly point out the Treasury uses external IT contractors, appointed before Trump took office, to keep its systems running so they ask the court please vacate its order before they shut down the US financial system, or at least the Treasury.
An extract from President Trump’s urgent motion to overturn the New York restraining order points out the order bars external IT contractors from keeping US Treasury system running along with Federal Reserve Bank Employees who host Treasury systems on Federal Reserve Servers.
MHN’s legal opinion is this timewasting Democrat lawsuit is going nowhere except, hopefully, a bunch of disbarment hearings for Democrat lawyers. Their entire evidence in support of this draconian injunction is an affirmation [4] (basically a witness statement) by the Democrat state plaintiff’s lawyer which is six paragraphs long, has no exhibits and just makes the bare assertion that, “one apparent purpose, upon information and belief, is to allow the DOGE to advance a stated goal to block federal funds from reaching beneficiaries who do not align with the President’s political agenda”. That was enough evidence for Judge Englemayer to restrain the President! I suppose it is facially true on an incredibly tendentious reading insofar as it is true that the President wants to block federal funds from being wasted. However, that is not an unlawful nor unconstitutional motive for the President of a nation with a massive fiscal deficit to have.
Whatever you say about Trump, no one can deny his actions are totally constitutional and have democratic legitimacy (with a small ‘d’). Trump ran on a platform that successful businessman Musk would be hired via DOGE (effectively as a consultant) to help cut the United States of America’s vast budget deficit. It was not a secret. It was a core campaign promise. It was put to the electorate for their approval in clear and transparent terms. Musk stood next to Trump and jumped up and down shouting things like, “Woo!” and “Yay!” They made a doggy meme to promote the name, ‘DOGE’. It was posted on X. A lot. Da voters, dey knew.
Hiring consultants and advisors is well within the purview of the President and of the Executive. Regardless, Trump told the people front and centre and the electorate, the people, the ultimate source of democratic legitimacy, voted for him. That makes the lawsuit by so-called, “Democrats” an attack on the people. An anti-democratic attack on the constitution. That makes the authors of the lawsuit the the enemies of the people of the United States and of the free world. Americans really do love their hyperbole, but I agree with Elon Musk that some people need impeaching or disbarring for this.
