Donald Trump’s ambitious plan to overhaul the wasteful federal government is rapidly becoming mired in the ‘lawfare’ that plagued his first administration.
Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has been tearing through Washington at warp speed since the inauguration.
His crack team of young nerds have left bureaucrats literally sobbing outside the USAID offices and struck fear into the hearts of the civil servants who for years have guarded the Treasury Department’s obscure payments system.
But now Trump is facing his first test and the opposition’s game plan is familiar: wage war through the courts with Attorney Generals backed by the Hungarian billionaire George Soros and judges appointed by Joe Biden and Barack Obama.
On Friday, Soros-backed New York Attorney General Letitia James led a group of 18 other Democratic state AGs in a lawsuit against the Trump administration to ‘stop the unauthorized disclosure of Americans’ private information and sensitive data.’
The filing alleges that the DOGE team has been ‘unlawfully’ granted access to a ‘variety of sensitive personally identifiable information’ through the US Treasury Department’s Bureau of Fiscal Services (BFS).
New York Southern District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer – who was appointed by Obama – issued an emergency restraining order against the US Treasury Department and Trump on Saturday.
The order commanded that no one outside of the US Treasury is allowed access to the department’s information.
George Soros, billionaire and founder of Soros Fund Management LLC, pauses while speaking at an event on day three of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2020
Alex Soros, George’s heir-apparent, and his fiance Huma Abedin, ex-Clinton campaign vice chair
Engelmayer ruled the Treasury, its Secretary Scott Bessent, and Trump were acting unconstitutionally and violated the constitution’s Take Care Clause, which states that presidents ‘shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed.’
Bessent and Trump are due in court on Valentine’s Day with New York Southern District Judge Jeannette A. Vargas. She was appointed by Joe Biden and will be taking over the case.
James, who is leading the charge against the Trump administration, has accepted at least $18,000 from Soros – a leftist philanthropist who has been consistently criticized by conservatives.
This not is the first time the Trump-hating prosecutor has waged a legal battle against the president.
Bessent and Trump are due in court on Valentine’s Day with New York Southern District Judge Jeannette A. Vargas (pictured). She was appointed by Joe Biden and will be taking over the case
Between 2019 and 2021, her office took nearly 100 legal actions against Trump’s first administration when he put a cap on state and local taxes and tried to eliminate funds and grants for law enforcement officials.
Her office also fought to protect President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act, prevent a question about citizenship on the 2020 census and put a stop to his plan to dismantle the US Postal Service.
James previously filed a lawsuit against Trump in September 2022, accusing him of ‘engaging in years of financial fraud and illegal conduct, according to James’ office.
In February 2024, the New York State Supreme Court ruled in her favor when she won the $450 million suit.
‘Now, Donald Trump is finally facing accountability for his lying, cheating, and staggering fraud. Because no matter how big, rich, or powerful you think you are, no one is above the law,’ James said at the time.
After Trump’s 2024 Presidential Election victory, James made her plans ‘to fight back’ against the president clear.
She said at a post-election news conference: ‘We faced this challenge before, and we used the rule of law to fight back.
‘And we are prepared to fight back once again, because as the attorney general of this great state, it is my job to protect and defend the rights of New Yorkers and the rule of law.’
Engelmayer worked as a clerk under Thurgood Marshall, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, from 1988 to 1989.
Marshall was the first African American Supreme Court Justice. He strongly advocated for equal justice, affirmative action and women’s bodily autonomy. He was firmly against the death penalty.
Engelmayer was appointed to his current position by Obama in 2011 and has ruled against Trump administration plans before.
In 2019, Engelmayer sided with advocacy groups including Planned Parenthood when he dismissed Trump’s ‘conscience rule,’ Politico reported.
The proposed policy would have allowed healthcare providers to refuse to perform or cover abortions, contraception and gender affirming care on the basis of religion or personal morals.
James was a vocal supporter of this ruling, saying at the time: ‘Once again, the courts have blocked the Trump Administration from implementing a discriminatory rule that would only hurt Americans.’
Vargas joined the US District Court for the Southern District of New York in September 2024. She was recommended by Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand earlier that year.
‘I am honored and grateful that the Senate has voted to confirm Jeannette Vargas to serve on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York,’ Gillibrand wrote after Vargas was appointed.
‘Ms. Vargas has more than two decades of service as a federal prosecutor. In addition to her expertise in complex civil litigation, she has also worked diligently to protect and strengthen the civil rights of the LGBTQ community.
‘Now, as a federal judge, Ms. Vargas will use her sharp legal mind and extensive experience to uphold the highest principles of justice and fairness for all Americans.’
Vargas was previously an assistant US attorney in the Southern District of New York and served as the deputy chief of the Civil Division since 2016.
She also worked as a clerk under Judge Sonia Sotomayor from 2001 to 2002.
Sotomayor – the third woman and first Latina to serve on the Supreme Court – was nominated by Obama and appointed in 2009.
Alongside James, attorney generals from Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin also filed the complaint and requested a restraining order against the Treasury Department.
Several of these prosecutors have been historically anti-Trump – and some have become entrenched in scandals of their own.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta sued the Trump administration 123 times from 2017 to 2021, CalMatters reported.
Bonta has a ‘passion for justice and fairness’ that was ‘instilled in him by his parents, who served on the frontlines of some of America’s most important social justice movements,’ the California Department of Justice wrote.
Prior to his attorney general appointment in 2021, Bonta ‘led statewide fights for racial, economic, and environmental justice and worked to further the rights of immigrant families, renters, and working Californians.’
The prosecutor has recently come under fire for accepting campaign donations from a casino operator that his own office was investigating, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Within the first month of serving as attorney general, Bonta reportedly accepted $16,200 from the Bicycle Casino, based in Southern California.
But the donation came as authorities from Bonta’s office’s Bureau of Gambling Control were probing the casino on suspicions of money laundering.
Bonta discretely dropped the Bicycle Casino case in October 2024.
He recently warned state doctors to ignore Trump’s executive order against gender affirming care for transgender children.
‘I understand that the President’s executive order on gender-affirming care has created some confusion,’ he said.
‘Let me be clear – California law has not changed, and hospitals and clinics have a legal obligation to provide equal access to health-care services.’
Trump has promptly begun his fight back against his left-wing adversaries – removing security clearance privileges from James, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, ex-Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and other prominent Democrats.
‘This is to take away every right they have [revoking security clearances] including they can’t go into [federal] buildings,’ Trump told the New York Post.
‘Plaintiffs are informed and believe that DOGE is attempting to access government data to support initiatives to block federal funds from reaching certain disfavored beneficiaries,’ the lawsuit states.
