Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco said President Donald Trump and his administration failed to get approval from Congress to initiate the cuts, which is required by the constitution.

Dozens of lawsuits have challenged DOGE's work on various grounds including violating privacy laws and exceeding its authority, with mixed results. This ruling is one of the broadest yet.

The courts are poised to tackle broad separation-of-powers arguments against the Trump administration’s historic cuts to the federal workforce, after a federal judge said the president likely violated the US Constitution.