An Obama-appointed judge rejected the Justice Department's requested longterm stay on requiring former White House lawyer Don McGahn to comply with a House Judiciary Committee subpoena, Politico reported.
The case is already on hold amid an appeal to be heard Jan. 3, per the report.
"This Court has no doubt that further delay of the Judiciary Committee's enforcement of its valid subpoena causes grave harm to both the Committee's investigation and the interests of the public more broadly," U.S. District Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote in a 17-page opinion.
Last week, Jackson, nominated by former President Barack Obama, rejected the argument President Donald Trump could claim "absolute immunity" and prevent his aides from testifying.
The Justice Department's Jan. 3 appeal hearing includes a three-judge panel that includes two GOP-appointed judges, according toPolitico.
"DOJ also does not, and cannot, deny that whatever additional information that the Committee [and the public] might glean from McGahn's live testimony will be lost if the Judiciary Committee does not have an opportunity to question him prior to any House vote on impeachment," Jackson's Monday ruling read.
"Thus, DOJ's argument here that any further delay will not be harmful to the Judiciary Committee because, in essence, DOJ has already harmed the Committee's interests by successfully delaying its access to other materials strikes this Court as an unacceptable mischaracterization of the injury at issue," she added.