U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge Paul Engelmayer on Feb. 8 issued a temporary restraining order blocking President Donald Trump, Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessant or any other political appointee from accessing the Department of Treasury’s payment systems pending hearing of a complaint filed by New York, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin.
According to the ruling, President Trump, Secretary Bessant and the other defendants are barred from accessing the Treasury payment systems, which is now restricted to civil servants: “restrained from granting access to any Treasury Department payment record, payment systems, or any other data systems maintained by the Treasury Department … other than to civil servants with a need for access to perform their job duties within the Bureau of Fiscal Services…” and “from granting access to all political appointees, special government employees, and government employees detailed from an agency outside the Treasury Department, to any Treasury Department payment record, payment systems, or any other data systems maintained by the Treasury Department…”
Further, the Judge said the defendants, that is the President who holds the executive power under Article II of the Constitution, must destroy any records of any systems already accessed “ordered to direct any person prohibited above from having access to such information, records and systems but who has had access to such information, records, and systems since January 20, 2025, to immediately destroy any and all copies of material downloaded from the Treasury Department’s records and systems, if any…”
So, under the injunction, only civil servants can utilize the Treasury’s payment systems, but not the Secretary Treasury or any of his assistants or deputies if they were political appointees or are special government employees.
This, despite the fact that the Secretary of Treasury’s explicit duties under federal law — the Treasury was one of the first departments created by Congress in 1789 during the George Washington administration with Alexander Hamilton appointed as its first secretary — include receiving and keeping public money, taking and giving receipts of monies paid out and deposited in the Treasury and so forth under 31 U.S. Code Sec. 3301: “The Secretary of the Treasury shall… receive and keep public money… take receipts for money paid out by the Secretary… give receipts for money deposited in the Treasury… endorse warrants for receipts for money deposited in the Treasury… submit the accounts of the Secretary to the Comptroller General every 3 months, or more often if required by the Comptroller General; and … submit to inspection at any time by the Comptroller General of money in the possession of the Secretary.”
How can the Secretary of Treasury — who serves at the pleasure of the President — “take receipts for money paid out” if he cannot access the Treasury’s payment systems or delegate the authority to do so?
Moreover, the Secretary, and whomever he delegates the authority to, is responsible for disbursing monies under 31 U.S.C. Sec. 3121: “only officers and employees of the Department of the Treasury designated by the Secretary of the Treasury as disbursing officials may disburse public money available for expenditure by an executive agency…” and critically, “For economy and efficiency, the Secretary may delegate the authority to disburse public money to officers and employees of other executive agencies.”
But according to the judge’s injunction, now only “civil servants with a need for access to perform their job duties” can do so. We went from “officers and employees of the Department of the Treasury designated by the Secretary of the Treasury”, which include both political appointees and civil servants alike, to just civil servants.
Moreover, the Secretary of Treasury, via the disbursing officials he designates, is required to access the Treasury payment systems under 31 U.S.C. Sec. 3325: “A disbursing official in the executive branch of the United States Government shall… disburse money only as provided by a voucher certified by… the head of the executive agency concerned; or … an officer or employee of the executive agency having written authorization from the head of the agency to certify vouchers; … [and] examine a voucher if necessary to decide if it is… in proper form; … certified and approved; and … computed correctly on the facts certified…”
It is literally the job of the Secretary of Treasury, again, who serves at the pleasure of the President, and the disbursing officials to ensure that the money going out of the Treasury are going to whom they say they are going to — and are legal!
Which is exactly what President Trump ordered be done
The judge’s ruling comes as Elon Musk, who is acting as an advisor to President Trump, reported that of $100 billion a year is going out the door to individuals without any Social Security or tax identification numbers. Is that the “proper form”? Is it even “certified”? Surely, somebody “approved” those payments but are rubber stamps the norm?
But according to the judge, neither the President nor the Treasury Secretary and his designees can do a thing about it.
What’s next? A federal judge ruling that President Trump as commander in chief can no longer direct the military — say, to the southern border — via the Secretary of Defense?
These appear to be flagrant power grabs by the judiciary, which is now purporting to assume the executive functions of the government that belong solely to the President under Article II of the Constitution. Judge Engelmayer, nor any other judge, may perform the duties of the Secretary of Treasury—or any other department—including who the Secretary may delegate duties to under the President’s executive power. What a joke.
Robert Romano is the Vice President of Public Policy at Americans for Limited Government Foundation.
Reproduced with permission. Original here: Treasury Secretary Blocked From Treasury Payment Systems. What’s Next? The Commander-In-Chief Can’t Direct The Military?
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