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Judge won’t block Musk’s records access because states couldn’t show ‘irreparable harm’

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WASHINGTON – A federal judge on Tuesday refused to block Elon Musk’s access to sensitive records at several federal departments after another judge limited the Department of Government Efficiency’s access to the Treasury Department.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan held hearings Friday and Monday on the request from 14 states, which argued that Musk was exercising unchecked power to gain access to sensitive information, terminate personnel and end contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

But Chutkan ruled that the states hadn’t shown they would suffer “imminent, irreparable harm” unless she blocked DOGE.

“The court is aware that DOGE’s unpredictable actions have resulted in considerable uncertainty and confusion for Plaintiffs and many of their agencies and residents,” Chutkan wrote. “But the ‘possibility’ that Defendants may take actions that irreparably harm Plaintiffs ‘is not enough.

 

In the case led by New Mexico, 14 states argued that Musk’s “unchecked power” over federal agencies violates the Appointments Clause in the U.S. Constitution. They said that Musk took over a newly established agency without following the protocol outlined in founding documents.

 

Judge won’t block Musk’s records access because states couldn’t show ‘irreparable harm

 

In the case led by New Mexico, 14 states argued that Musk’s “unchecked power” over federal agencies violates the Appointments Clause in the U.S. Constitution. They said that Musk took over a newly established agency without following the protocol outlined in founding documents.

The Appointments Clause requires Congress to establish an office before the president can fill it and states that the Senate must confirm a nominee to an office created by law.

A New Mexico official said if the Labor Department’s sensitive data was compromised, it could leave the state vulnerable to embezzlement, cyber theft and ransom attacks. A Washington state official said if DOGE canceled federal-state contracts it would hurt the state’s ability to meet its legal commitments to residents. A Connecticut official said DOGE could potentially impact the state’s Department of Social Services funding.

“The sweeping authority now vested in a single unelected and unconfirmed individual is antithetical to the nation’s entire constitutional structure,” the states argued.

Indian markets feel the chill in Trump-Modi ties sans bear-hugging bonhomie

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Narendra Modi met with Donald Trump, bringing trade concessions but facing reciprocal tariffs that will significantly impact India’s top exports. Modi’s efforts to negotiate a trade deal might involve more concessions, while India’s currency and stock market could suffer due to capital outflows and lower dollar returns.
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When Narendra Modi dropped in on Donald Trump last week, there was none of the bear-hugging bonhomie that was on display at the White House Rose Garden in 2017. The hand-clasping bromance from the 2019 “Howdy Modi” event in Houston was also missing. The Indian prime minister came bearing trade concessions on Harley-Davidson bikes and Tesla cars, yet the US president met him wielding a fat stick of tariffs.
Trump set a frosty tone to the much-anticipated rendezvous when shortly before receiving Modi, he announced reciprocal tariffs worldwide: The US will tax foreign goods at the same rate other nations apply to its products.

This is worse than the universal levy that Trump had vowed during his campaign. While that would have affected all of America’s trading partners, this one will hit India particularly hard. From iron, steel and auto parts to pearls, stones and mineral fuels, nine of its top 10 exports to the US would suffer incremental duties of 6 to 24 percentage points, according to economists at Kotak Mahindra Bank in Mumbai, who estimate the overall increase in tariff at 7 percentage points.

A loss of competitiveness in India’s biggest overseas market could put its currency under further pressure. Anticipating lower dollar returns, global stock pickers might add to the nearly $11 billion they’ve pulled out of India so far this quarter. Capital outflows could complicate the outlook for interest-rate cuts in a slowing economy. Domestic retail investors, who have kept equity prices from cratering, could also head for the exit, after a top local fund manager advised them to get out of
Reciprocal tariffs won’t kick in before an April 1 review of other countries’ trade practices. That gives Modi time to start negotiating a trade deal, even though it will probably mean making more concessions, such as to Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite broadband service. Trump is pushing India to buy more US military hardware, including the F-35 warplane. New Delhi has already agreed to change a civil liability law that has held up Westinghouse Electric Co.’s nuclear-power reactors for more than.
Trouble is, Trump could ask for more than just lower import duties. He may also target subsidies, regulations, value-added taxes, exchange rates, lax intellectual property protections, and other nontariff barriers abroad. Being forced to act on at least some of these issues will not necessarily be inimical to the world’s fifth-largest economy, especially if it forces large domestic conglomerates to become more competitive.
However, Trump’s insistence on selling more US oil and gas to India may create problems for both its balance of payments and green-energy ambitions. The most-populous nation meets half of its growing demand for liquefied natural gas overseas, largely from suppliers in the Persian Gulf. If Indian fertilizer firms, refineries, petrochemicals makers and steel plants are forced to raise the 11% share of American LNG, they will end up shouldering additional transportation costs, inflating the country .
At a joint White House news conference with Modi, Trump spoke of new US-India trade routes, connected by ports and railways and passing through Italy and Israel. The revival of the previously proposed India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, which has seen little progress since its 2023 launch, may be good news for Gautam Adani, Asia’s second-richest businessman.
The infrastructure czar controls Israel’s Haifa port and is looking to expand in Europe. Now that Trump has paused actions under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the Department of Justice’s bribery charges against Adani — denied by the conglomerate — may be headed for the cold storage. Modi described the tycoon’s legal troubles as a “personal matter” that doesn’t belong to discussions between national leaders.

The stock market, however, is yet to be convinced. Shares of Adani’s flagship firm, as well as its ports unit, have been a drag on the benchmark index this quarter. After five years of strong gains, Indian equity valuations are faltering amid disappointing corporate earnings. A recently announced $12 billion tax rebate doesn’t appear to have made much difference to lackluster consumer sentiment. P
ocketbook concerns are becoming more important. US sent the first batch of 104 undocumented workers, ..
If Modi has won any assurances of better conditions for deportees in the future, he didn’t reveal them. (A second plane arrived in India over the weekend.) He has, however, secured Trump’s promise to extradite a key suspect wanted for the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai. For now, the prime minister and his suppor
ters will have to be happy with that small return gift.

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this column are that of the writer. The facts and opinions expressed here do not reflect the views of www.economictimes.com.)

Netanyahu says with U.S. support, ‘we can finish the job’ against Iran

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Netanyahu says Israel has dealt a “mighty blow” to Iran over the past 16 months since the start of the war in Gaza and with the support of Donald Trump “I have no doubt we can and will finish the job”

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu during a joint press briefing at the Prime Minister’s office in Jerusalem, on February 16, 2025.

Israel and the United States are both determined to thwart Iran’s nuclear ambitions and its “aggression” in West Asia, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday (February 16, 2025) following a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Speaking after a meeting with Mr. Rubio in Jerusalem, Mr. Netanyahu said they had held a “very productive discussion” on a number of issues, “none more important than Iran”.

“Israel and America stand shoulder to shoulder in countering the threat of Iran,” he said. “We agreed that the Ayatollahs must not have nuclear weapons and also agreed that Iran’s aggression in the region must be rolled back.”

Mr. Rubio said: “Behind every terrorist group, behind every act of violence, behind every destabilising activity, behind everything that threatens peace and stability for the millions of people that call this region home is Iran.”