Sunday, February 9, 2025

Flotsam and Jetsam - Obama Judge Orders DOGE Shutdown

Let's give top billing to Stacey McCain, Obama Judge Orders DOGE to Stop Telling Us Where Our Money Went, in Manhattan at the instigation of Letitia James:

Judge Halts Access to Treasury Payment Systems by Elon Musk’s Team

A federal judge early Saturday temporarily restricted access by Elon Musk’s government efficiency program to the Treasury Department’s payment and data systems, saying there was a risk of “irreparable harm.”

The Trump administration’s new policy of allowing political appointees and “special government employees” access to these systems, which contain highly sensitive information such as bank details, heightens the risk of leaks and of the systems becoming more vulnerable than before to hacking, U.S. District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer said in an emergency order.

Judge Engelmayer ordered any such official who was granted access to the systems since Jan. 20 to “destroy any and all copies of material downloaded from the Treasury Department’s records and systems.” He also restricted the government from granting access to these categories of officials.

The defendants — President Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent — should show cause on Feb. 14 before Judge Jeannette A. Vargas, who is handling the case on a permanent basis, Judge Engelmayer said.

WSJ, Federal Judge Blocks Elon Musk’s DOGE From Treasury System, "Order requires those who have accessed payment records without proper security clearance to destroy them." That's easy. Trump can give them the clearance. The NYT view from Althouse, "A federal judge early Saturday temporarily restricted access by Elon Musk’s government efficiency program to the Treasury Department’s payment and data systems..." "Is the federal judge taking the position that in the name of enforcing the Take Care Clause, it is the role of the judiciary to oversee whatever the President does with the executive power that the Constitution vests in him? Is there some extra-legal notion that the federal judge should seize the power to put on the brakes when a President with questionable judgment is moving too fast? (I'm hearing some lawprofs singing that tune.)" Sundance at CTH, Leftist Lawfare – Manhattan Judge Issues Emergency Order Removing Secretary of Treasury, All Political Appointees and DOGE Personnel from Federal Govt., Only Bureaucrats Allowed in DC. "The order by the judge is transparent judicial activism; it will almost certainly be overturned and nullified by later rulings. However, it creates blocks and slows down the goal of the Dept of Government Efficiency and the objective of the Trump administration. On what basis do states think they can sue the federal government to stop the federal government from auditing federal spending? How can a judge block the executive branch from executing the functions of the executive branch? This Lawfare activism is ridiculous." Ilya Shapiro @ishapiro "The judicial resistance has begun. The Trump administration will ultimately win most of these legal battles—they’re lawyered up well this time—but the establishment won’t give up without a fight." Quote @amuse@amuse "LAWFARE: In an egregious and unconstitutional assault on executive authority, Judge Paul Engelmayer has unilaterally forbidden all of Trump's political appointees—including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent—from accessing Treasury Department data. This ruling, concocted without legal precedent or constitutional justification, is nothing short of judicial sabotage. Worse, it was issued ex parte—meaning Trump administration lawyers weren’t given notice, weren’t allowed to argue, and weren’t even in the room. Only Democrat attorneys general were heard, ensuring a predetermined outcome."

Nicholas Ballasy at JTN, Musk slams 'absolutely insane' ruling blocking him and DOGE from accessing Treasury payment systems. Elon Musk @elonmusk, "This ruling is absolutely insane! How on Earth are we supposed to stop fraud and waste of taxpayer money without looking at how money is spent? That’s literally impossible! Something super shady is going to protect scammers. Quote Charlie Kirk @charliekirk11, "New York Judge Paul Engelmayer just forbade all political appointees — including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent — from accessing Dept. of Treasury data, all based on Blueanon conspiracy theories!!Those theories couldn't be challenged because the order was EX PARTE — meaning Trump's lawyers weren't warned, and couldn't weigh in. Only Democrat Attorneys General were allowed to argue. . . . " Brianna Lyman at Da Fed shows the Judges Issuing Lawless Bans On Trump’s Clearly Legal Executive Actions Have Extremist Records. At ET, 14 States to File Lawsuit Against DOGE Access to Government Payment Systems, "The state attorneys general said the level of access given to DOGE is ‘unlawful’ and ‘unacceptable.’" You can probably guess most of the states. The Peacock whines that one U.S. judge declines to block Elon Musk’s DOGE from Labor Department systems. "Judge says plaintiff union has not shown it was harmed." From Fox, Federal judge rules not to immediately block DOGE access to Labor Department systems. "'Although the court harbors concerns about defendants’ alleged conduct, it must deny plaint." So with disagreement among federal judges can we take this straight to the Supreme Court for clarity? At Ars Technica, DOGE can’t use student loan data to dismantle the Education Dept., lawsuit says. "Students don't want loan data used in AI probe to slash DOE, according to lawsuit." At the Tax Prof, More Rich Taxpayers Learn Their Data Was Stolen in Huge IRS Leak.

Mark Tapscott at PJM says If You Love DOGE, the Best (and the Panicky Worst for the Left) is Still to Come. At Insty, THIS REALLY IS REVENGE OF THE NERDS WRIT LARGE: Elon Musk @elonmusk, "This is a job for Big Balls" Quote David Sacks@DavidSacks, "Sir, the Pentagon has failed another audit.” “Send in Big Balls.”" Larry Correia on FaceBook, "The best thing about DOGE gutting everything is it has conclusively demonstrated that there is no organic left. There is no lefty grass roots. It's all been one giant, organized, top down scam, where we've been footing the bill for our own destruction." Mark Judge at PJM, Elon and the End of the American Stasi "Personally, it’s hard to overemphasize the amount of relief and satisfaction I feel." Jeff Tucker at Brownstone, calls it The Most Dramatic Narrative Shift in Modern History. Jeff Carlson @themarketswork, "Elon’s new passion project is mapping out the corruption networks in DC. What do you think the Algos his tech team ran returned? Democrats are screwed." Morgan J. Freeman@mjfree "How could the world’s richest man’s passion project be to stop providing aid to poor, desperate people. Think about it." Ben Whedon at JTN says Trump goes for the jugular with NGO funding review, imperiling Dem-Journo-Activist cabal. "In what critics have described as “money laundering” of taxpayer dollars to left-wing advocates, USAID often distributes taxpayer money to NGOs that support liberal causes, some of which the government would not be able to advance directly." At Coffee and Covid, RAKE IN THE GRASS "It's pretty amazing how all the parts of Trump's strategy are coming together: from DOGE's giant testicles to the Proxy War and resorts in Gaza, it is all connected. I'll show it to you." 

Sundance hosts Tucker Carlson Interviews Mike Benz About USAID, NED and CIA Revelations. Very long, I got about half way through, but I intend to finish it. Also, A Brief Note About the USAID Larger Issues – Humanitarian Aid and National Security. "When you see a controversial issue within the USAID operation reaching sunlight, always remember it is the CIA behind it. When USAID targeted a foreign government for removal, it was the CIA behind it. When USAID engaged with domestic and foreign media to control mis-dis-malinformation, it is the CIA behind it. The CIA is defining the information." Matt Vespa at TownHall says USAID's Sloppy Trysts With Politico Pales in Comparison to This Scheme WikiLeaks @wikileaks, "USAID has pushed nearly half a billion dollars ($472.6m) through a secretive US government financed NGO, "Internews Network" (IN), which has “worked with” 4,291 media outlets, producing in one year 4,799 hours of broadcasts reaching up to 778 million people and "training” over 9000 journalists (2023 figures). IN has also supported social media censorship initiatives." At the Brussels Signal, Without USAID, the EU will have to pay for its own propaganda. Bonchie, reports Pete Hegseth Slams Fox News Reporter for Parroting Democrat Talking Points. Jennifer Griffin @JenGriffinFNC "Purge continues at USAID, many fear elimination, a win for China and Russia as developing nations and allies will turn to them for aid. Fox has learned 50 senior USAID staff were placed on administrative leave then all staff were subjected to a gag order."

At Insty, a SLUSH FUND FOR THE CONNECTED -> Dave Sack at RCP says USAID Seems To Be Paying Every Left-Wing Organization in World. 'Becca Downs at TownHall, From Canceled Media Contracts to Lawsuits to Expected Layoffs, the USAID News Continues. Streiff at RedState notes The Media Is Lying to You About Their Government Funding. "No matter the intent, it is an unassailable fact that in these three instances involving Politico, the New York Times, and the AP, the massive increase in their subscription business with the US government coincides with Joe Biden's election and is really obvious by February 2021, Biden's first full month in office. There is no such volume of subscriptions in either the Obama or Trump administrations." Tom Knighton at TAW, Politico is scrambling to cover themselves. Chief Nerd @TheChiefNerd "Kara Swisher & Scott Galloway Are in Full Panic Mode Now Calling for the Arrest of the @DOGE Engineers “I want to see Democratic governors … use the full faith and the letter of the law to put you folks in prison … This is a coup … We need to go gangster here.”" The Beebe, Reddit community banned as user spat with Musk intensifies, "The r/WhitePeopleTwitter subreddit, which typically invites people to share funny posts from X, has been banned for 72 hours after some users posted comments calling for violence against members of the Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (Doge)."

NewsMax, Spending Bill Talks Bog Down After Trump's Efforts to Slash Government "Obviously, the Democrats are not in a good place right now, so they walked away from talks. But it'll have to resume," House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said Thursday." Tapscott at Insty wonders DOES THIS GUARANTEE TRUMP TAX CUTS EXTENSION? "“In a direct choice, government spending was overwhelmingly seen as a bigger problem (76 percent) than not enough revenue coming in from taxes (16 percent). This is the case across party (Republicans: 89-7; Independents 77-15; Democrats 63-27).” Streiff again, The US Treasury Spent HOW MUCH Illegally? Now You Know Why the Left Wants to Stop DOGE. "Congress illegally spent at least $516 billion in 2024 on programs for which there was no authorization," and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's Website Goes Dark and the Woodchipper Warms Up. Dave Strom at Hat Hair snorts, DOGE Cancels $180,000 Anthony Fauci Museum Exhibit. From the Daily Economy, Defund NPR? It’s About Time. Long past time, in fact. Ben Smith at LI, Class Dismissed: Trump & Musk Target Department of Education. Science Magazine whines NIH slashes overhead payments for research, sparking outrage, "Move to cut indirect cost rate to 15% could cost universities billions of dollars." At Fox, Trump freezes aid to South Africa, promotes resettlement of refugees facing race discrimination, "Executive order comes after signing of controversial South African land seizure bill." Nick Ballasy at JTN reports Trump administration freezes about $3 billion for electric vehicle charging stations "In the memo, FHWA said existing contracts would still be honored but "no new obligations may occur under the NEVI Formula Program." At NewsMax, Musk Alleges Public Funds Fraud of $1B per Week. 

At Twitchy, OOF! That's Gonna Leave a Mark: J.D. Vance BURIES Ro Khanna in Heated Exchange About 'Racism' JD Vance@JDVance, "For the sake of both of our kids? Grow up. Racist trolls on the internet, while offensive, don't threaten my kids. You know what does? A culture that denies grace to people who make mistakes. A culture that encourages congressmen to act like whiny children." Quote Ro Khanna @RoKhanna "Are you going to tell him to apologize for saying "Normalize Indian hate" before this rehire? Just asking for the sake of both of our kids. x.com/jdvance/status…" Insty, WELL SAID, J.D . . . Kurt Schlichter @KurtSchlichter "We’ll get right on hassling this low-level employee for some old deleted tweets when you’re finished repudiating and voting to expel your comrade, Rep. Jasmine Crockett. Signed, A Mediocre White Guy @JDVance @RoKhanna."

NewsBusters, REVEALED: George Soros Poured $36.8 Million into Apparatus Controlling His Prosecutors. "This development comes after the firestorm on social media regarding the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) having a total obligation of approximately $27 million to Tides Center between 2016 and 2024. This and Soros’s funding perfectly encapsulates the “whole of society approach.” That is the phrase the Biden administration used to describe its plan to harness an interconnected alliance of public and private actors for furthering the leftist agenda. Soros is most definitely in the top echelon of this vendetta, if not the primary force behind it."

From the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 02.07.25 (Evening Edition), EBL: MAGA and DOGE : Sunlight Is The Best Disinfectant, Bill Belichick and Jordon Hudson, Mad Maxine Meltdown at the Department of Education, Twitchy: Twitter Celebrates Based Security Guard Saying No To Screechy Democrats, Tape Over Takeover – USAID’s DC HQ Has Signage Covered Or Removed, and Let The Inappropriate Giggling Begin As Elon Wants To Fund “Hard Hitting” News Show On X, Louder With Crowder: Remember the woke bishop who scolded Trump? Turns out her “ministry” got $53 Million of YOUR tax money to resettle illegals, CNN seethes over “Big Balls,” the teen exposing the government with Elon Musk and DOGE, Vox Popoli, The Game was Always Fake, American Greatness, Transportation Sec. Sean Duffy Accuses Hillary Clinton of Lying to Cover Up Family’s ‘Obscene Grifting via USAID’, The Left-Wing Episcopal Church Embarrasses Itself—Again, Attorney General Pam Bondi Halts Funding for Sanctuary Cities, American Thinker, DOGE Walks Among Us, Trump Drains the Swamp, Chicago Boyz: A Swarm of Sinecures, DOGE is an Oxymoron: Unchecked “Democracy” is the Problem, The Geller Reports Nazi Collaborator George Soros Received $260 MILLION from USAID, INCOMING TAX RELIEF – Trump Outlines His Sweeping Tax Policy Demands to Congressional Leaders, and WOKE WSJ Reporter KATHERINE LONG who DOXXED DOGE Staffer Has Ties to USAID, Legal Insurrection, Hurricane DOGE Sweeps into the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Power Line, Meltdown at the NY Times and The Federalist: Oh SNAP! Millions Of Taxpayer Dollars Blown On Free Food Fraud, Judges Issuing Lawless Bans On Trump’s Clearly Legal Executive Actions Have Extremist Records, and Democrats More Panicked About DOGE Accessing Feds’ Computers Than Chinese Hackers."

Don Surber has the Highlights of the week, "Not government funded." Declaration of Memes @LibertyCappy "I don't know how to overstate this... but Trump HAS to succeed in completely hamstringing the government. When Democrats take the white house again (and they eventually will) the gloves will be completely off. When Leftists are in power they don't play. . . " At Twitchy, 'This Is Where I Am': EPIC Thread Shows Why It's Time to Play by the Left's Own Rules. stly Peaceful Jawbone Enthusiast @RettCopple, "We need to realize that the entire purpose of the Republican party prior to Trump was to contain the right so that times like these never happened." Driscoll at Insty goes OUT ON A LIMB: ‘If you genuinely think Trump is a fascist, go and have a lie down.’ "Benito Mussolini, Adolf Hitler, Donald Trump. Il Duce, der Führer, The Donald. The Roman salute, the Sieg Heil, the YMCA dance. The comparison is so absurd it practically debunks itself. Anyone who genuinely thinks that Trump’s America – whatever else you might think of the man or his policies – can be mentioned in the same breath as fascist Italy or Nazi Germany needs to get a grip. . . "

At Chronicles Trump and Musk Move Europe to the Right. Althouse, "Elon's not shy" and the Japanese Prime Minister is not "trying to suck up." "The event was a meeting between President Trump and the Prime Minister of Japan, Shigeru Ishiba, but a reporter saw fit to exploit the occasion to provoke Trump about Musk: "Do you have a reaction into the new Time Magazine cover that has Elon Musk sitting behind your Resolute Desk?". . . Trump says a simple "no" in a way that sounded to me like it meant what a stupid question." At NYPo the Divine Ms. Devine looks Inside Trump’s hectic day-to-day schedule – with prez revealing the phrase that keeps going through his mind when he first wakes up, "business." At Hat Hair, a video, Speaker Johnson on DOGE, Israel, Reforming FBI & More | This Week on Capitol Hill. Cam Edwards at Bearing Arms, Trump Issues Executive Order to Protect Second Amendment and Gun Owners. Althouse, "Crooked Joe’s MANDATE, 'NO PLASTIC STRAWS, ONLY PAPER,' IS DEAD! Enjoy your next drink without a straw that disgustingly dissolves in your mouth!!!" "As you can tell from the all-caps and the triple exclamation points, that's Trump, hating on the straws everyone hates." The Slantic whines when Trump Takes Over the Kennedy Center. Althouse extracts "Trump never attended the Kennedy Center’s annual gala event during his first term, as artists protested his administration and threatened to boycott Kennedy Center events at the White House." "Now Trump is making clear that he will not be sidelined again from the most celebrated cultural institution in Washington. 'The attitude is different this time. The attitude is Go fuck yourself,' said one of the people familiar with the planning. 'It’s ridiculous for four years for Trump and Melania to say, "We’re not going to the Kennedy Center because Robert De Niro doesn’t like us."' (De Niro was a Kennedy Center honoree in 2009 and spoke at the 2024 event.)"

NewsMax reports Trump Fires National Archivist Shogan "As archivist, she oversaw the National Archives and Records Administration, which was at the center of the federal indictment against Trump for possessing classified documents. Court exhibits last May showed deputy White House Counsel Jonathan Su had been regularly communicating with NARA, as had the Department of Justice. The Archives had sent in a criminal referral on Trump on Feb. 9, 2022." Victor Joecks at Hat Hair, Trump Works to End California's Man-Made Drought. Space News, GOP senators back Trump’s space-based ‘Iron Dome’ plan with $19.5B bill, "The proposed legislation includes $960 million for space-based technologies." Shaffer to Newsmax: Usual Suspects Dismiss Trump's Gaza Plan. The Divine Ms. Devine, Trump rules out deporting Prince Harry: ‘He’s got enough problems with his wife.’ But cut off their USAID funding, Beege Welborn, "And I'm ded. And just so you know how HORRIBLE these two grifters really are, YOUR tax dollars have been helping support their social climbing. Seriously."


From the Center Square, House passes bill blocking future presidential bans on hydraulic fracking. I doubt it will pass the Senate. 



Sarah Arnold at TownHall reports FBI Allegedly Ignored Informant’s $190K Theft From Jan. 6 Protestor, Court Filing Reveals. At Bravo Blue John Lucas has evidence for More Judicial Rebellion in D.C. "How many errors can one judge cram into a one-and-one-half page Order? Grounds for disqualification?" Da Caller, Trump’s Simple Questionnaire Reveals Shocking Truth Behind Major Right-Wing Conspiracy. Julie Kelly @julie_kelly2 "NEW: DOJ IG determines the FBI is not following protocol related to cases of suspected child sex abuse in post-Nassar investigation. FBI was too busy using every field office to round up Americans who walked into a government building on a Wednesday afternoon on Jan 6. . ." Charlotte Hazard at JTN reports DOJ will not bring charges against Project Veritas members who tried to publish Ashley Biden diary. "The criminal investigation started in the last few days of the 2020 presidential campaign."

Leslie Eastman at LI reveals a Hispanic Man was Stabbed at Anti-ICE ‘Student’ Protest in Los Angeles. No matter the results of the investigation into today’s incident, one must wonder how many woke Los Angeles teachers are hired to teach students who should not be here in the first place." Teachers union took out permits for the demonstration.

At Breitbart, Pentagon Boots CNN, Washington Post, Others from Workspaces to Make Room for Conservative Outlets. Streiff, Pentagon's Rapid Response to Media Accusations of Unfairness Leaves the Whiners Almost Speechless. Almost. "The Pentagon Press Association was devastated. The association said in a statement Friday that it was “shocked and deeply disappointed” by the decision.
“Instead of reconsidering its approach after good faith outreach this week from more than 20 news organizations, the Defense Department appears to be doubling down on an unreasonable policy toward news outlets that have covered the U.S. military for decades,” the association said." Driscoll at Insty cites Power Line GRAY LADY DIVES FOR FAINTING COUCH: "The poor New York Times is pushing its Trump Derangement Syndrome meltdown well past eleven. Here are just a few opinion section headlines from the last couple days:" Matt Taibbi, The Media is Busted "And will soon die."

NY Sun reports Trump’s Justice Department Won’t Pull Out of Supreme Court Case About Gender Treatments for Minors, Paving Way for Landmark Decision, "A major outstanding question in the pending landmark case was whether the Trump administration’s Justice Department would withdraw its complaint on account of switching sides." "The Trump Administration may have decided to tolerate this contradiction because it expects, as do many legal observers, that the court will uphold the Tennessee law; a ruling is expected in June. This would be a major victory for Republicans’ years-long effort to prevent minors from accessing gender-transition drugs." Leah Barkoukis at TownHall sees the NCAA Announce a Major Change After Trump's Order Protecting Women's Sports. "NCAA’s Board of Governors voted to update the association’s policy for transgender student athletes, restricting the women’s category to females." What a novel idea! Breitbart, Pro-Women in Sports Clothing Company XX-XY Athletics Ad Goes Viral: ‘Real Girls Rock’
At Campus Reform, Salem State leans into DEI, transgender ideology, and illegal immigration in wake of Trump presidency. At Fox, House Republican introduces transgender lawmaker as 'the gentleman ... Mr. McBride' for floor speech. "'I refused to deny biological reality,' Republican Freedom Caucus member says."

The Wombat has FMJRA 2.0: Scalped up and garnering clicks at The Other McCain.
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