Trump defends Musk and says Doge will look at military spending

Doge employees have entered several government departments since Trump took office and led the charge to try to shut down USAID.

In recent days, some Doge staffers have been spotted at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau – an agency set up to protect consumers in the wake of the 2007-8 financial crisis.

CFPB employees in the bureau’s Washington office have been told to work from home for at least a week, according to an email seen by BBC News.

However Trump’s opponents have filed legal challenges to try to halt some of the changes and several of the president’s executive orders.

On Saturday, a federal judge blocked Doge from accessing the personal financial data of millions of Americans held in Treasury Department records.

US District Judge Paul Engelmayer ordered Musk and his team to immediately destroy any copies of records.

The Trump administration has not responded to requests about Doge’s activities, funding or the number of people it employs.

Courts have also paused Trump’s order to end birthright citizenship, a plan to put thousand of USAID staff on leave and a large buyout offer to federal employees.

Republicans including Vice President JD Vance criticised Engelmayer’s ruling. Vance alleged the injunction was illegal and wrote on X: “Judges aren’t allowed to control the executive’s legitimate power.”

Alina Habba, a Trump aide, told Fox News earlier Sunday that there would be “repercussions for people” trying to “step in Trump’s way”.

Democrats meanwhile stepped up their criticism of Musk and Trump, but with Republicans in control of the White House and Congress, they have little leverage outside of legal action.

“Our courts are working as they should,” Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar told CBS’s Face the Nation. “What is not working is the way that the executive branch is behaving.”

Democratic Senator Chris Murphy says Musk “stands to gain from the closure of USAID”.

“It makes America much less safe around the world, but it helps China,” Murphy told ABC News. “Elon Musk has many major business interests at stake inside Beijing.”

Murphy called the Trump administration’s actions “the most serious constitutional crisis” since the Watergate scandal.

“The president is attempting to seize control of power and for corrupt purposes,” he claimed.