A federal judge is allowing a lawsuit accusing Elon Musk of illegally exercising executive powers as the head of DOGE to move forward, despite the Trump administration’s attempts to quash it.
More than a dozen state attorneys general sued Musk, the U.S. DOGE Service, and President Donald Trump last year, arguing that the billionaire was exercising power similar to a Senate-confirmed Cabinet official despite not having Senate confirmation.
The suit, which is one of a handful of legal challenges to the secretive Department of Government Efficiency that Musk spearheaded during the early months of Trump’s second term in office, was later joined with a similar complaint from several nonprofits.
On Monday, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan pointed to Trump’s own statements—and those of DOGE officials—as she denied the government’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit.
The ruling allows the plaintiffs to continue with their claims that Musk illegally wielded power under the Appointments Clause, and that DOGE terminated grants, fired federal employees, dismantled agencies, and undertook other official actions “despite lacking lawful authority.”
The Supreme Court has held that under the Appointments Clause, “principal officers” must be appointed by the president with the advice and consent of the Senate.
“The head of DOGE is not merely an influential advisor who counsel the President and then communicates the President’s decisions to government officers,” Chutkan wrote in her opinion.
Instead, there was evidence to suggest the head of DOGE personally “makes decisions and issues directives on matters as weighty as the termination of federal grants, contracts, and workers,” she wrote.
She also smacked down the government’s argument that the allegations of DOGE acting beyond their authority were “bare assertions” based on “information and belief,” as opposed to actual evidence.
In fact, the plaintiffs successfully pointed to public statements by Trump, DOGE officials, and other administration officials supporting the claim that DOGE had seized an expansive role in the federal government, she wrote.
DOGE’s own officials publicly bragged that “DOGE just TERMINATED a $2.3 MILLION contract” and was “shutting [USAID] down,” Chutkan noted.
The judge did agree to throw out two claims arguing the agency violated the Administrative Procedure Act and violated the constitutional separation of powers, narrowing the scope of the case, but said discovery can continue on the other two claims.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the Justice Department and White House for comment.
Musk resigned from DOGE in May, when his term as a special government employee expired.
Soon after, he and the president had an explosive falling out, but Musk appears to be working his way back into Trump’s good graces by donating millions of dollars to Republican candidates during the midterm elections.
