Federal District Judge Tanya Chutkan is poised to issue a temporary restraining order that would block nearly everyone in the Trump administration from accessing any data produced by any federal agency or dismissing any federal or contract workers. The proposed order comes in response to a suit filed by 13 states — New Mexico, Arizona, Michigan, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington — claiming "that President Trump has violated the Appointments Clause of the United States Constitution by creating a new federal Department without Congressional approval and by granting Musk sweeping powers over the entire federal government without seeking the advice and consent of the Senate."

The draft order submitted by the plaintiff blue states to Chutkan, an Obama appointee who many will remember as one of the most vicious, petty, and vindictive of the January 6 judges, is incredibly and unconstitutionally broad as it actually prevents President Trump from carrying out his Article II duties: "The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America." 

Defendants Elon Musk, U.S. DOGE Service, U.S. DOGE Service Temporary Organization, and their agents, officers, and employees, or anyone acting in active concert with them, are temporarily restrained from:   

(a) Accessing or continuing to access any data systems and the information and code contained within those systems, including but not limited to systems containing sensitive or confidential agency and personnel data, at the Office of Personnel Management, the Department of Education, the Department of Labor, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Energy, the Department of Transportation, and the Department of Commerce, or any components of any of those agencies, or copying, transferring, or in any way disseminating any data from any of the agencies identified in this paragraph; and   

(b) Terminating, furloughing, or otherwise placing on involuntary leave—whether paid or unpaid—any officers or employees of the federal government working within any of the Departments and agencies identified in paragraph (a), other than officers or employees of the Defendant entities, or directing any federal department or agency, not including the Defendant entities, to take the prohibited actions described in this paragraph.

New Mexico vs Musk by streiff at redstate on Scribd

Politely, this is nucking futs. 

3/3 As drafted, the Order would prohibit Donald Trump & heads of agencies from assessing data or firing anyone. Would be most restrictive of all TROs entered to day if Court enters. pic.twitter.com/s52yQPFEBQ

— Margot Cleveland (@ProfMJCleveland) February 15, 2025

The government has filed a response dismantling the case by the states and demonstrating how the proposed remedy is divorced not only from the imagined harm but from reality. It asks Chutkan to hold off until Monday and hold a hearing on the issue.

New Mexico vs Musk — Government Response by streiff on Scribd

Unfortunately, when you are dealing with someone who appears to have lost touch with reason, that is not going to work out all that well. No judge has the right to suspend the Constitution. Eventually, this order will be vaporized. It probably won't happen at the hands of the DC Circuit, which is still torqued about their four-year vendetta being summarily dismissed on January 20 but will end up in front of the Supreme Court.

In my view, this is the kind of judicial action that should provoke Mike Johnson to draft articles of impeachment (I'm sure Constitutional illiteracy is impeachable) on Chutkan, but it won't because Donald Trump is the only Republican in DC who understands power.

Editor's Note: This article was updated post-publication for clarity.