Elon Musk ordered to identify all DOGE employees, reveal plans for cuts

Federal Judge Tanya Chutkan has ordered Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency, which he runs, to reveal all of its plans to downsize the federal government and identify its employees in a new ruling on Wednesday. 

The ruling is part of a lawsuit by 14 Democrat state attorneys general, who allege that DOGE is operating outside the Constitution and has too much power.

What the ruling requires

According to Fox News, the ruling requires DOGE to

• Produce all DOGE and DOGE Temporary Organization planning, implementation, and operational documents concerning: (1) eliminating or reducing the size of federal agencies; (2) terminating employment of federal employees or placing such employees on leave, or (3) cancelling, freezing, or pausing federal contracts, grants, or other federal funding.
• Produce all DOGE and DOGE Temporary Organization planning, implementation, and operational documents regarding obtaining access, using, or making changes to federal databases or data management systems.
• Identify every individual serving as DOGE personnel.  For each person, identify (1) their title; (2) whether they are part of a DOGE Team at an agency, and if so, what agency; (3) all individuals to whom they directly report; and (4) who hired them.
• Produce all documents containing lists, charts, or summaries that DOGE personnel or Musk have created, compiled, or edited reflecting the planned or completed cancellation of federal contracts, grants, or other legal agreements.

"The burden to Defendants is minimized by the narrow time period for responsive materials, the exclusion of electronic communications, explicitly exempting President Trump from the requests, extending Defendants’ time to respond, and denying Plaintiffs’ request to notice depositions," Chutkan said in the ruling.

She also limited the information to that which pertains to the states with the attorneys general who are suing DOGE.

What will happen?

New Mexico specifically asked for the information and requested that Chutkan force DOGE to comply with its requests.

An earlier request for a temporary restraining order against DOGE that would have stopped its activity was denied by Chutkan, who said that states had not shown evidence of harm.

Chutkan's name should be familiar; she was one of the judges who presided over President Donald Trump's indictment for election subversion on January 6, 2021.

She's no fan of Trump, and it's got to be bothering her that she had to drop the case when he got re-elected. We'll just see what happens with DOGE and how far liberal judges are willing to go to stop it.

What do you think of this story?

Do you approve of the job Elon Musk has been doing?

Or do you think he needs to slow down?