Wise USDC Judge Chutkan In DC Grants New Mexico (And Other States) Expedited Discovery Against DOGE -- And Musk. Another Win, On Prelim. Inj.

Not surprising, but (if one believes the Musk/Tangerine mantra) the sooner the DOGE-ers show their homework, the sooner this may all be over. And since we know that they are swearing that "the dog ATE their homework. . ." we get why they don't want to produce anything, any time soon.

But Judge Chutkan just put them on front street: in under 21 days, we will see whether there is any evidentiary record to support what they did (as being lawful) in real time. Excellent; here's a bit of the 14 pager just entered:

. . .The court concludes that granting expedited discovery is in the best interest of all parties. Plaintiffs’ discovery requests target information necessary to resolve their forthcoming preliminary injunction motion. The court recognizes that discovery into the Executive, particularly the White House and Senior Advisors, imposes a heightened burden. . . .

Accordingly, the court does not authorize all the discovery that Plaintiffs request, imposes several additional restrictions on the scope, and extends Defendants’ time to respond. With those adjustments, the court finds expedited discovery is reasonable and necessary to evaluate Plaintiffs’ request for injunctive relief. In addition, to avoid prejudice to Defendants and expeditiously resolve this case, the court will exercise its discretion to consolidate the motion for a preliminary injunction with the merits under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 65(a)(2). . . .

[The documentary] requests target information relevant to Plaintiffs’ claims for injunctive relief, with a few adjustments. Plaintiffs’ document requests seek information regarding DOGE’s and Musk’s involvement in (1) eliminating or reducing the size of federal agencies; (2) terminating or placing federal employees on leave; (3) cancelling, freezing, or pausing federal contracts, grants, or other federal funding; and (4) obtaining access, using, or making changes to federal databases or data management systems. Id. at 5–7.

Evidence that Defendants eliminated agencies that work with Plaintiffs, terminated employees responsible for managing programs with Plaintiffs, or cancelled contracts with Plaintiffs is relevant to whether Defendants exceeded their statutory and constitutional authority. Warner Bros. Recs. Inc. v. Does 1–6, 527 F. Supp. 2d 1, 2 (D.D.C. 2007) (granting expedited discovery where “Plaintiffs have made a showing of good cause for the discovery they seek, as the information is not only relevant but crucial to the prosecution of plaintiffs’ claims.”). . . .

Now you know -- and we are scrubbed for tonight (hydraulics issue) for the under an hour away in the crewed count-down, headed up to the ISS from the Cape Kennedy complex 39A. Maybe tomorrow evening. Keeping a good thought here. Onward.

नमस्ते