Multiple judges have temporarily blocked efforts by President Trump to dramatically gut the federal government, and more lawsuits are yet to come. Laura Barrón-López reports on the latest.
Deadline for federal workers to resign delayed as Democrats step up fight against Musk
Politics
Feb 06, 2025 06:55 PM EDT
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Transcript
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Geoff Bennett:
It has been perhaps the most significant day of court action for the second Trump administration so far.
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Amna Nawaz:
Multiple judges have temporarily blocked efforts by President Trump to dramatically gut the federal government, and more lawsuits are yet to come.
Laura Barron-Lopez has this report.
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Laura Barron-Lopez:
A federal judge in Washington paused a takeover by billionaire Elon Musk and his team, blocking their access for now from a sensitive Treasury Department payment system. That system holds personal information on millions of Americans, from Social Security numbers to bank account details.
A group of unions argued the agency was illegally sharing information with Musk's team, known as the Department of Government Efficiency. Also today, an effort to purge the federal government of workers has been paused until Monday by a federal judge in Massachusetts.
In an unprecedented move, Musk's team directly e-mailed two million civilian federal workers, urging them to take a deferred resignation offer by midnight tonight, promising pay through September. But unions representing workers who sued warned of a dangerous one-two punch, a loss of expertise and the rise of partisanship over truth.
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White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt:
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Karoline Leavitt, White House Press Secretary:
The last time I checked in with the Office of Personnel Management, there were more than 40,000 individual federal workers who had accepted the buyout program. We expect that number to increase.
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Laura Barron-Lopez:
The court intervention comes as Democrats step up their fight against a sweeping power grab by Musk, the wealthiest man in the world.
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Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX):
Our message is very clear. Elon Musk shouldn't be allowed to steal your money. Elon Musk shouldn't be allowed to steal your data.
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Laura Barron-Lopez:
And, today, House Democrats led by Hakeem Jeffries announced legislation, the Taxpayer Data Protection Act, to safeguard Americans' personal information.
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Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY):
What we are seeing unfold is an unlawful power grab by an unelected and unaccountable billionaire puppet master who's pulling the strings of House Republicans and apparently the Trump administration.
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Laura Barron-Lopez:
An effort unlikely to gain any Republican support.
At the National Prayer Breakfast this morning, President Trump announced a new task force led by Attorney General Pam Bondi to root out so-called anti-Christian bias in the government.
Donald Trump, President of the United States: While I'm in the White House, we will protect Christians in our schools, in our military, in our government, in our workplaces, hospitals, and in our public squares.
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Laura Barron-Lopez:
President Trump and congressional Republicans are also trying to avoid an intraparty war as they move to dramatically cut spending in regulations, in a meeting behind closed doors at the White House, Trump, House Speaker Mike Johnson, and other leaders ironing out details for how to navigate narrow GOP majorities and meet Johnson's own April timeline.
Later tonight, the Republican-led Senate is expected to confirm another Trump nominee, Russell Vought as director of the Office of Management and Budget.
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Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY):
To hear how bad Russell Vought is.
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Laura Barron-Lopez:
Democrats protested his nomination on the Senate floor throughout the night.
Vought, like Musk, is on a mission to gut the federal government and is a chief architect of the controversial Project 2025 plan.
For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Laura Barron-Lopez.
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