A federal appeals court halted a lower court’s order that had directed Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency to submit to legal discovery and turn over records about its operations, ruling Wednesday that the judge was too quick to allow it.
District Judge Tanya Chutkan had said the states were entitled to records they said would back up public reporting about what Mr. Musk and the DOGE are up to.
But a three-judge panel of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia said Mr. Musk and the Trump administration should have been given a chance to argue for ending the case first.
The judges, in an unsigned order, put discovery on hold until further notice.
“In particular, petitioners have shown a likelihood of success on their argument that the district court was required to decide their motion to dismiss before allowing discovery,” the court ruled.
The case, led by New Mexico, is a broad challenge to Mr. Musk, whom the states said has achieved “seemingly limitless and unchecked power” to upend government agencies.
Judge Chutkan, an Obama appointee to the court, previously denied the states’ request for a temporary restraining order but is still considering a preliminary injunction. She hasn’t ruled on that yet.
