A judge in the United States has granted a temporary injunction barring the Department of Government Efficiency from accessing the Treasury system

In response to a lawsuit brought by a group of states, a federal judge temporarily blocked Musk's government efficiency team from accessing some Treasury Department materials and ordered the destruction of data already collected.

Nineteen mostly Democratic-led US states have filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump and Treasury Secretary Roy Bessant, Bloomberg reported. Manhattan District Judge Paul Engelmayer issued a temporary injunction Saturday. The order will remain in effect until a judge rules on the long-term injunction sought by the state. A public hearing will be held next Friday.

Mr. Engelmeyer said the state was likely to prevail in the case based on current evidence, and that he believed the failure to intervene immediately in court could cause "irreparable harm." "The new policy carries the risk of exposing sensitive and confidential information, and also because the systems are more vulnerable to hacking than before."

The ruling applies to all political appointees in the Trump administration, special government employees and government employees assigned to agencies other than the Treasury Department. In addition, anyone who has accessed Treasury Department materials since President Trump took office must immediately destroy all copies of the downloaded materials.

In a post on social media X hours later, Musk criticized the ruling as "extremely absurd" and accused Democrats of trying to cover up what may be the biggest fraud conspiracy in human history.

The White House and the Treasury Department have not yet responded to the ruling.