CNN’s Michael Smerconish challenges Azoria CEO James Fishback, who created the “DOGE Dividend,” on his plan to give savings to taxpayers.

CNN’s Michael Smerconish was having no part in a pitch by investment firm CEO James Fishback to create a “DOGE Dividend” for American taxpayers, with Smerconish comparing the plan to a “Ponzi scheme.” In an at times bitter exchange on the Saturday morning broadcast of The Michael Smerconish Program,

Judge Jeannette A. Vargas issued a preliminary injunction on Friday but said she may lift the ban if the Treasury Department certifies by March 24 that DOGE members have received required cybersecurity training.

The ruling found that DOGE access to the payment systems created a “realistic danger that confidential financial information will be disclosed.”

A U.S. judge on Friday extended a block on Elon Musk's government cost-cutting team known as DOGE from accessing Treasury Department systems responsible for trillions of dollars in payments. U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas in Manhattan granted a request from 19 Democratic state attorneys general for a preliminary injunction on DOGE's access to the systems,