SMITH v. EQUIFAX INFORMATION SERVICES, LLC et al

Filing 69

ORDER GRANTING 67 Ex Parte MOTION to Stay filed by US DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION. (Case Stayed until 2/11/2019) Signed by District Judge Terrence G. Berg. (AChu) Modified on 1/10/2019 (AChu).

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN
SOUTHERN DIVISION

ANGELA SMITH,
Plaintiff,
Case No. 18-10162
Hon. Terrence G. Berg

v.
PENNSYLVANIA HIGHER
EDUCATION ASSISTANCE
AGENCY d/b/a FEDLOAN
SERVICING and UNITED
STATES DEPARTMENT OF
EDUCATION
Defendants.

ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION’S MOTION TO STAY
Defendant United States Department of Education moved for a
stay

of

this

case

on

December

26,

2018.

Congressional

appropriations to the Department of Justice lapsed on December
21, 2018. Without an appropriation, in most cases, Department of
Justice attorneys are prohibited from working.
The Court finds that a thirty-day stay is appropriate under these
circumstances. However, the Court notes that there is also a
reasoned basis for denying all such requests. See In re Petition for
a General Order Holding Civil Matters in Abeyance in which the
1

United States is a Party Due to Lapse of Congressional
Appropriations, 18-mc-00196 (S.D.W.V. Jan. 2, 2019) (ECF No. 3)
(exempting cases before Judge Joseph R. Goodwin from a general
order of the Southern District of West Virginia staying all civil
matters in which the United States is a party); United States v.
Baltimore Police Dep’t, 1:17-cv-0099-JKB (D. Md. Dec. 26, 2018)
(ECF No, 173) (denying the government’s request for a continuance
of all dates and deadlines until appropriations are restored). As
Judge Goodwin wisely states: “the government should not be given
special influence or accommodation in cases where such special
considerations are unavailable to other litigants.” In re Petition for
a General Order, at 1.
After 30 days this stay will be lifted. If at that time the Executive
and Legislative branches remain incapable of carrying out their
Constitutional duty to promote the general welfare by authorizing
the Government to pay the attorneys who represent it, the Court
will entertain a motion for entry of default judgment for failure to
defend this suit. Mismanagement has consequences.

2

WHEREFORE, this action is hereby STAYED for a period of 30
days. All dates in the Scheduling Order dated May 10, 2018 (ECF
No. 55) will be extended for a period of 30 days.

SO ORDERED.

Dated: January 10,
2019

s/Terrence G. Berg
TERRENCE G. BERG
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

Certificate of Service
I hereby certify that this Order was electronically filed,
and the parties and/or counsel of record were served on January
10, 2019.
s/A. Chubb
Case Manager

3