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.
Yesterday I reported that US President Donald Trump had responded swiftly and robustly to a Federal lawsuit and interim order in New York, restraining him from allowing Elon Musk and DOGE members access to US Treasury records. Now, as the court prepares to rule on Trump’s motion to overturn the order, the Democrats have already humiliatingly made a partial climbdown, agreeing to limit the scope of their order which was stopping technical support contractors having access to the systems. Sadly, in a spectacular return to delusional, anti-democratic form, they have then clarified they really do mean the US Treasury Secretary, appointed by the President, vetted and confirmed by the Senate, should not have access to the systems of his own department – an outrageous demand which appears to violate the US constitution and its provisions on separation of powers.
As Trump’s filings now point out, in negotiations the Democrats have agreed at a minimum, a modification to the restraining order. They concede they were blocking, “routine maintenance” “necessary to allow Treasury systems to operate”:
Trump’s lawyers, in legal filings, note the Democrats now agree to modify their order which was stopping technical contractors from routine maintenance of US Treasury systems, “such language is necessary to allow Treasury systems to operate without interruption”.
Democrats returned to form however, and continue to undermine democracy by arguing the Treasury Secretary should not be allowed access to his own department’s systems as set out in an extract from their filings here:
Democrats filing opposing Trump’s motion to overturn the restraining order confirms they really do mean they want to stop the US Treasury Secretary accessing Treasury systems.
Papers in this case are publicly available online here. Anyone who wishes to follow this darkly comic rape of the judicial system and US democracy by Democrat activists is encouraged to take a look for themselves.
