Is this place working again?
As you can see, this is a TEST!
Well, it worked that time.
Judge Calls Rare Hearing on Holiday in Case Against Musk's DOGE
https://www.newsmax.com/us/doge-judge-tanya-chutkan/2025/02/17/id/1199338/
Monday, 17 February 2025 06:46 AM EST
A U.S. judge has scheduled a rare holiday court hearing Monday, in a case brought by Democrat state attorneys general seeking to protect major federal agencies from Elon Musk's government cost-cutting team known as DOGE.
District Judge Tanya Chutkan in Washington, D.C., on Sunday called the hearing for Monday, the Presidents Day holiday when federal courts are closed.
She did not say why she ordered the hearing, but Friday she heard arguments by 13 Democratic state attorneys general for a temporary restraining order that would bar Musk's DOGE, or Department of Government Efficiency, team from accessing information systems at several government agencies including the departments of Labor, Education, Health and Human Services, Energy, Transportation, Commerce, and the Office of Personnel Management.
DOGE has swept through federal agencies since Republican Donald Trump became president last month and put Musk in charge of rooting out wasteful spending as part of Trump's dramatic overhaul of government, which included thousands of job cuts Friday. The attorneys general also asked the judge to prevent Musk and DOGE team members from firing government employees or putting them on leave. The attorneys general have requested the order to last for 14 days, giving them time to file legal briefs in pursuit of a more permanent order.
Chutkan did not issue a ruling at Friday's hearing.
The states argue Musk wields the kind of power that can only be exercised by an officer of the government who has been nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate under the Appointments Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The states also allege DOGE has not been authorized by Congress.
Around 20 lawsuits have been filed in various federal courts challenging Musk's authority, which have led to differing results in two initial rulings. U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas in New York extended a temporary block on DOGE on Friday that prevented Musk's team from accessing Treasury systems responsible for trillions of dollars of payments.
But also Friday, U.S. District Judge John Bates in Washington declined a request by unions and nonprofits to temporarily block Musk's team from accessing records at the departments of Labor, and Health and Human Services, as well as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Most of the judges handling DOGE cases have not yet issued rulings.
Fearmongering once again, TAXPAYER DATA…right.
DOGE Seeks Access to IRS, Taxpayer Data
https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/doge-irs-taxpayer/2025/02/16/id/1199322/
Sunday, 16 February 2025 09:09 PM EST
The Department of Government Efficiency commission (DOGE) sought access this weekend to a closely controlled IRS data system known as Integrated Data Retrieval System, or IDRS, which is said to house millions of taxpayers' data, ABC News reported Sunday.
So far, no access has been granted.
A Trump administration official told The Washington Post that DOGE personnel needed access to IDRS to "eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse, and improve government performance to better serve the people."
The "DOGE mission," they added, is "to bring much-needed efficiency to our bureaucracy" and is being carried out "legally and with the appropriate security clearances."
The Post, which first reported the story, added that the IRS is mulling the issue of a memorandum that would give DOGE officials access to several systems, as well as IDRS.
Newsmax has reached out to DOGE for further comment.
Meanwhile, as the DOGE team awaits access to IRS data, the agency is preparing for a swath of layoffs that could hit as many as 10,000 IRS agents.
DOGE to Visit FAA Air Traffic Control Command Center Monday
https://www.newsmax.com/us/doge-air-traffic-control-transportation/2025/02/16/id/1199324/
Sunday, 16 February 2025 09:50 PM EST
Personnel from Elon Musk's government downsizing team called DOGE will visit the Federal Aviation Administration's Air Traffic Control command center in Virginia on Monday, as the Trump administration looks to reform the system.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy disclosed the plan in a social media post on Sunday, saying the DOGE team will "get a firsthand look at the current system, learn what air traffic controllers like and dislike about their current tools, and envision how we can make a new, better, modern and safer system."
The Trump administration, earlier this month, reversed course and said it would not allow air traffic controllers to take part in a government incentive program to quit.