“The court is not convinced, but that is a #legal issue appropriate for resolution after fulsome briefing.…At this stage, it is sufficient that plaintiffs' discovery requests intend to reveal the scope of #DOGE's & #Musk's authority,” #Chutkan wrote.

Chutkan limited requests to material concerning agencies, employees, contracts, grants, federal funding, legal agreements, databases & data management systems that involve or engage w/the 14 states as well as entities they operate or fund.

Turns out DOGE can't beat FOIA by shouting "Not an agency"
https://www.publicnotice.co/p/doge-foia

"Trump signed an EO inserting #DOGE into the skin of an existing agency... then redesignating it as part of the Executive Office...

specified that DOGE is not a federal agency, a #legal distinction which turns out to be critical in at least 3 pending #lawsuits... But only an agency can claim authority to shut down great swathes of the federal bureaucracy — something #Musk brags about doing"

@QasimRashid

IANAL in NY but, for those who are, what's yr reading of NY RPCs 8.3 [Reporting Professional Misconduct] and 3.8 [Special Responsibilities of Prosecutors and Other Government Lawyers] for this situation?

#ethics #rpcs #law #lawyers #legal #professionalrules #judiciary

https://nysba.org/attorney-resources/professional-standards/

#Interior has suspended a #legal opinion that held companies liable for killing #ducks, #cranes, #pelicans, #owls & HUNDREDS of other #birds.

In a memo dated Feb 28…, Interior’s acting chief atty suspended EVERY legal opinion issued by the #Biden admin, including one that subjected companies to penalties for killing birds through activities such as #oil & #gas #drilling, wind #energy production, #mining or #construction.

#Trump #law #Climate #wildlife #conservation
https://www.doi.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2025-03/m-opinion-suspension-review0.pdf

However, #MahmoudKhalil is in the #UnitedStates on a #GreenCard & NOT on a student #visa, Greer said Sunday. Despite informing agents about his #legal status, #ICE detained him, she said.

#Trump claimed Khalil was a "Radical Foreign Pro-Hamas Student" & said it was the "first arrest of many to come" in a post on his social media.

"We will find, apprehend, & deport these terrorist sympathizers from our country -- never to return again," he added.

Why Techdirt Is Now A Democracy Blog (Whether We Like It Or Not)
https://www.techdirt.com/2025/03/04/why-techdirt-is-now-a-democracy-blog-whether-we-like-it-or-not/

" #tech and #legal #journalists have... seen how #technology can be wielded to consolidate #power... and how smoke & mirrors claims about #innovation can mask old-fashioned power grabs. It’s a playbook we watched #Musk perfect at #Twitter, and now we’re seeing it deployed on a national scale."

Rather, the #ExecutiveOrder calls on #Trump’s #Education Secy Linda McMahon [former professional wrestling promoter] to “take all necessary steps” to facilitate the closure of the dept “to the maximum extent appropriate & permitted by law.”

Officials including McMahon have suggested that might include trying to shift some of the agency’s functions to other parts of government, but that also would face #legal hurdles, as the agency’s major programs are assigned, by #law, to the Education Dept.

#Trump's habit of saying #Musk is in charge of the group has already created #legal headaches for his admin, which has repeatedly said #ElonMusk is not actually leading #DOGE.

A group of plaintiffs challenging DOGE's constitutionality immediately alerted a Washington, DC, federal judge to Trump's comments almost as soon as he finished his speech.

"At approximately 9:46 PM, President Trump stated the following in his Joint Address to Congress," the plaintiffs wrote in their filing.