A federal judge ruled in favor of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) on Tuesday. A group of state attorneys general had asked a court to prevent DOGE from accessing data at government agencies and a judge ruled against them.
A judge in New Mexico ruled that “Plaintiffs have not carried their burden of showing that they will suffer imminent, irreparable harm absent a temporary restraining order, and therefore Plaintiffs’ motion is DENIED.”
New Mexico was one of the states leading the case, along with Arizona, Michigan, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont and Washington. They were also requesting that the court block DOGE from terminating government workers or placing them on leave. The states argued that they themselves would suffer harm if that continues but the judge didn’t buy that either.
“To show irreparable harm, the ‘injury alleged must be ‘both certain and great, actual and not theoretical, beyond remediation, and of such imminence that there is a clear and present need for equitable relief,’” the judge wrote. “The ‘possibility of irreparable harm’ is not enough.”
