The White House criticized the decision by United States District Judge Paul Engelmayer to stop Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from accessing the Treasury Department's payment system, reported CNN, citing White House spokesperson Harrison Fields.

"This activist judge has resorted to locking the Senate confirmed Secretary of Treasury out of his role. It’s absurd and judicial overreach," Fields stated, likening what he called "these frivolous lawsuits" to "children throwing pasta at the wall to see if it sticks."

Earlier, Musk took to X to defend his team's access to the payment systems, stating that DOGE and the Treasury Department "jointly agreed" to changes such as requiring “all outgoing government payments have a payment categorization code, which is necessary in order to pass financial audits." He added that "necessary changes are being implemented by existing, long-time career government employees, not anyone from @DOGE. It is ridiculous that these changes didn’t exist already!”