Elon Musk is calling for the impeachment of the federal judge who made a decision early Saturday morning that the Treasury Department should block access to anyone “other than civil servants with a need for access to perform their job duties” from its payment systems.
The order explicitly prohibts special government employees and those detailed from outside the department from getting access to the systems, a designation that would cover Musk and the Deparment of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
That appeared to anger Musk, who in a few tweets on X early Saturday expressed his irritation.
“A corrupt judge protecting corruption,” Musk wrote in one post at 2:11 a.m. “He needs to be impeached NOW.”
That post was written in reply to a post by the conservative media pundit Glenn Beck.
Musk, the leader of DOGE, in an earlier post at 1:40 a.m. wrote “it’s time” in response to another post about impeaching judges who have ruled against actions by the Trump administration.
U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer, an appointtee of President Obama, in his ruling ordered anyone who is now blocked from access to the Treasury payment system, which does out trillions of dollars, to immediately destroy any material they’ve already downloaded.
Engelmaye’s ruling came in response to a suit by by 19 Democratic state attorneys general worried over the access Musk and his team was getting to the information. Musk’s efforts have sparked concerns from Democrats and career public servants at Treasury and other agencies that sensitive private information of citizens could be endangered.
It has also raised questions about the end-game behind Musk’s actions, including whether the access to the payment systems could be used to cut off appropriated funds by Congress that Trump’s team feels are not in line with the new administration’s policies or objectives.
The ruling from Engelmayer lasts until at least Friday, when another judge, who is permanently overseeing the case will hold a hearing in New York about whether to grant a longer pause.
“The Court’s firm assessment is that, for the reasons stated by the States, they will face irreparable harm in the absence of injunctive relief,” Engelmayer wrote in his decision.
“That is both because of the risk that the new policy presents of the disclosure of sensitive and confidential information and the heightened risk that the systems in question will be more vulnerable than before to hacking,” the judge continued.
The state attorneys general had only filed their case on Friday before Engelmayer’s decison came down early Saturday.
Musk’s efforts to win access to the systems of various federal agencies have provoked a number of legal actions in a whirlwind few weeks since President Trump’s inauguration.
Musk is the richest man in the world and has become a key part of Trump’s inner circle. The president offered a vote of confidence in Musk’s actions on Friday during a press conference with Japan’s prime minister.
In response to a legal challenge brought by a coalition of unions, the Trump administration earlier this week agreed to limit access to two personnel at the Treasury Deparment until the next stage of the case, but the ruling issued Saturday went further in restricting access.
The courts have emerged as a key power challenging Trump as he seeks to make a number of enormous changes to policies in Washington, from birthright citizenship to the holding of migrants at Guantanamo Bay to the closing of federal agencies such as the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
Musk’s threat to impeach a judge could open a new front in what is emerging as a battle between the executive and judicial branches of the federal government.
