Elon Musk, an unelected Donald Trump ally who spent an estimated $288 million US to get the U.S. president elected, had been granted a level of access into the government's federal payment system that was unprecedented for a private citizen.

Musk's rapid takeover of US government agencies has enabled the businessman to exert unprecedented control over America's federal workforce.

A different judge temporarily restricted DOGE access to Treasury Department systems that process trillions of dollars in payments per year, limiting access to two employees with “read only” privileges. One of those, Marko Elez, resigned after he was linked to social media posts that espoused racism, but Musk said Friday he is being rehired.