Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency are running into legal problems left and right as federal judges across the country are placing holds on some of his most important objectives, including the multi-billion dollar federal funding freeze, his buyout offer for federal employees, and his suspension of thousands of employees at the U.S. Agency for International Development. 

Mr. Musk’s role in trying to downsize the federal government has been heralded as much-needed by congressional Republicans, and President Trump has done nothing, so far, to curb his influence. At a recent press conference alongside the prime minister of Japan, Mr. Trump said the DOGE chief will only head to agencies with explicit permission, but did not say if there are any entities that are off-limits. 

The judiciary, however, is already acting as a check on Mr. Musk’s influence. On Monday, two different federal judges held that key parts of the DOGE agenda must be paused for the time being. A separate complaint from USAID employees says that Mr. Musk and the executive branch are violating a court order by not allowing them to return to work, despite a judge’s order that they be allowed to do so. 

Chief Judge John McConnell of the federal district of Rhode Island on Monday issued the first shot of the day at Messrs. Musk and Trump, saying that the administration is violating his order that billions of dollars must be released by the executive branch. The Trump administration previously issued a memo from the Office of Management and Budget pausing those funds, though they later rescinded it after a separate federal judge ruled that the funding be reinstated, leading the White House to withdraw the memo while maintaining that the freeze was still in effect. 

Judge McConnell ruled on January 31 that the government may “not pause, freeze, impede, block, cancel, or terminate Defendants’ compliance with awards and obligations to provide federal financial assistance to the States, and Defendants shall not impede the States’ access to such awards and obligations.”

The jurist now says that the administration is violating his original restraining order that said the administration must unfreeze funds.

“The broad categorical and sweeping freeze of federal funds is, as the Court found, likely unconstitutional and has caused and continues to cause irreparable harm to a vast portion of this country,” Judge McConnell writes. “These pauses in funding violate the plain text of the [restraining order.]”

“The Defendants must immediately end any federal funding pause,” he reiterated. 

Mr. Musk hit back against Judge McConnell on Monday, accusing the states who sued to lift the freeze of so-called “judge shopping.”

“What happens is that those who want the government corruption and waste to continue will shop around the country for an activist judge to do their bidding. It is an undemocratic and unconstitutional power grab by a tiny group of radical leftists!” Mr. Musk wrote on X. 

Another key agenda item for Mr. Musk — a buyout offer for federal employees, modeled after his mass layoffs at the social media site then known as Twitter — has also been paused. A federal judge in Massachusetts halted the buyout program, known as the “Fork in the Road” directive, last week and said that he would hear oral arguments on the issue on Monday. After hearing from attorneys, he said Monday that he would extend the restraining order on the program as he weighed the legality of Mr. Musk’s offers. 

Also on Monday, federal employees complained in court that Mr. Musk and the Trump administration were defying a court order to allow USAID employees to return to their posts. 

The unions representing those USAID employees, the American Foreign Service Association and the American Federation of Government Employees, said in a motion to a federal judge at the District of Columbia that at least three anonymous employees as examples of those who are still locked out of USAID computer systems. 

“In light of evidence suggesting that Defendants have not complied with this Court’s [restraining order] and factual developments suggesting that Defendants continue to take immediate, irreparable action to dismantle the agency, Plaintiffs hereby respectfully request the Court schedule a show cause hearing today, directing the government to show why they have not fully complied with this Court’s order,” the attorneys write. 

In the motion, the unions cited a social media post from the president on Friday where he said “CLOSE IT DOWN,” referring to USAID. They also pointed to the fact that the USAID sign had been taken down from its office space at the Ronald Reagan building, and that there are reported cancellations of contracts awarded by the agency.