President Trump’s Department of Justice (DOJ) filed Sunday for the lifting of a temporary restraining order (TRO) granted over the weekend by Judge Paul Engelmayer. The TRO limited access of Treasury Department payment systems to only “civil servants with a need for access to perform their job duties.” This notably excludes Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from accessing the systems.

In its filing, the DOJ argues that the order is overly expansive — extending to “all political appointees” including, on its face, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. The agency claims that this is “a remarkable intrusion on the Executive Branch” and there is no basis for distinguishing civil servants and political appointees. A federal court, the DOJ contends, “cannot insulate any portion of [executive agency] work from the specter of political accountability.” 

That argument is similarly reflected in the response of Vice President JD Vance to the slew of court rulings against the Trump administration. Vance wrote on Sunday that “[j]udges aren’t allowed to control the executive’s legitimate power.” But Elon Musk went much further, calling Engelmayer a “corrupt judge” who needs to be impeached.

The DOJ’s filing asks that the TRO be modified or clarified in the alternative to their primary request for dissolution. If the court refuses, the Justice Department indicated it would appeal. This lawsuit, filed by 19 Democratic state attorneys general, is one of several challenging Musk and DOGE. Two other lawsuits were filed by the National Treasury Employees Union on Sunday seeking to prevent DOGE’s dismantling of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and its access to CFPB employee records.