The Department of Justice is seeking to lift a judge’s order that prevents President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency from accessing the Treasury Department’s payment systems, arguing it could be read to cover all political leadership within the agency, including Secretary Scott Bessent.

A ruling by U.S. District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer, a Barack Obama appointee, of the Southern District of New York early Saturday restricted access to Treasury Department payment systems and other data to “all political appointees, special government employees, and government employees detailed from an agency outside the Treasury Department.”

Engelmayer’s ruling came hours after 19 Democrat-led states, led by New York Attorney General Letitia James, filed a lawsuit Friday alleging the administration violated the law by expanding access to sensitive Treasury Department data to DOGE staff, who were was tasked by Trump to streamline the federal government by eliminating waste and fraud.

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