A federal judge backed Elon Musk on Tuesday, rejecting an attempt by Democrat-led states to shut down his work with President Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan said it’s too early to say exactly what role the DOGE is playing in Mr. Trump’s plans to remake the federal bureaucracy. And she also challenged the states’ claims that Mr. Musk is the man behind the curtain, pulling the strings.

She said the states can develop their case with more evidence, but for now she refused their request to issue an emergency temporary restraining order.

“Plaintiffs have not adequately linked defendants’ actions to imminent harm to plaintiff states in particular,” she ruled.

The case has also shed new light on Mr. Musk’s role.

In filings with the court, the Justice Department and White House said Mr. Musk is not actually the administrator of the DOGE.

Indeed, Mr. Musk isn’t even technically part of the DOGE, and he “has no actual or formal authority to make government decisions himself,” Joshua Fisher, director of the White House Office of Administration, said in a sworn declaration.

That specifically means he cannot make personnel decisions at departments and agencies. He serves as a senior adviser to Mr. Trump and a non-career special government employee.

Mr. Fisher said that’s similar to the role Anita Dunn played for President Biden.

“In his role as a senior advisor to the president, Mr. Musk has no greater authority than other senior White House advisors,” Mr. Fisher said.

Mr. Trump created the DOGE on Jan. 20 through executive order. He transformed an Obama-era office, the U.S. Digital Service, as the U.S. DOGE Service.

The executive order refers to an administrator and directs each federal agency chief to establish a “DOGE team” to coordinate with the White House office.

After Mr. Fisher’s clarifications on Mr. Musk’s role, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Fox News that while Mr. Musk is considered a special government employee he is still “overseeing DOGE on behalf of the president.”

Judge Chutkan appeared skeptical of the whole situation.

In a footnote in her Tuesday ruling, she said the DOGE does seem to exercise extensive powers, including personnel decisions.

She then scolded the Justice Department lawyers.

“Defense counsel is reminded of their duty to make truthful representations to the court,” Judge Chutkan said.

The back-and-forth came as part of a case challenging what the plaintiffs — a coalition of Democrat-led states — called Mr. Musk’s “seemingly limitless and unchecked power.”

“Although our constitutional system was designed to prevent the abuses of an 18th century monarch, the instruments of unchecked power are no less dangerous in the hands of a 21st century tech baron,” the states said. “In recent weeks, defendant Elon Musk, with President Donald J. Trump’s approval, has roamed through the federal government unraveling agencies, accessing sensitive data, and causing mass chaos and confusion for state and local governments, federal employees, and the American people.”

The states characterized Mr. Trump as “oblivious” to Mr. Musk’s “threat” to the nation.

Judge Chutkan previously oversaw the special counsel’s attempt to prosecute Mr. Trump for actions surrounding the 2020 election and its aftermath. That case was scuttled when Mr. Trump won the election.

• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.