A federal judge in D.C. Tuesday greenlit lawsuits challenging Elon Musk’s position in the federal government and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) as unconstitutional.
Judge Tanya Chutkan, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, said 14 states and a group of advocacy organizations plausibly argued that Musk and DOGE’s efforts to slash the government violate the Appointments Clause of the Constitution.
The judge said Musk appears to lack the legal authority to direct alterations to the government because he is not a Senate-confirmed official and DOGE was never authorized by Congress.
“The Constitution does not permit the Executive to commandeer the entire appointments power by unilaterally creating a federal agency pursuant to Executive Order and insulating its principal officer from the Constitution as an ‘advisor’ in name only,” Chutkan wrote.
Chutkan said plaintiffs have also sufficiently alleged that they were harmed by DOGE’s “unauthorized access” to “private and proprietary information” and other actions.
President Donald Trump’s creation of DOGE was done without statutory or constitutional basis, the judge said, though she dismissed Trump as a defendant in the lawsuits because she did not want to interfere with “the performance of his official duties.”
In recent weeks, Musk has said he intends to step away from DOGE and politics to instead focus on his private businesses. However, Chutkan said Musk’s decision to step back is irrelevant.
“Even if the DOGE entity and all affiliated positions terminated alongside the DOGE Temporary Service, that does not defeat an Appointments Clause claim,” the judge said.
“President Trump may instruct another individual to lead DOGE and, if he does, States’ Appointments Clause claim may also lie against that individual. Thus, the position is not personal to Musk.”