Judge George H. Wu of the US District Court for the Central District of California held a hearing on September 21, 2026 on the government's consent motion to vacate the 2019 stipulated order in United States v. Musical.ly, No. 2:19-cv-01439. According to the court's minutes, the judge had issued a tentative ruling on September 18 that would deny the motion, and at the hearing he adopted that tentative ruling as the court's final ruling, denying the motion without prejudice. The minutes record that the parties will confer about the government's filing of a renewed motion and will advise the court's clerk. The bid to vacate the order was tied to a $400 million settlement the Justice Department announced on August 21, under which TikTok would pay $300 million immediately and a further $100 million once the 2019 order was vacated. The court's earlier tentative ruling had said the government had not shown that the settlement, whose terms were not disclosed to the court, amounted to a durable remedy replacing the order's ongoing reporting and monitoring requirements. Denial without prejudice leaves the government free to file a renewed motion with more detail.