Musk Faces Lawsuit for Alleged Unconstitutional Role as Trump Advisor
A federal judge in Washington has decided to permit a lawsuit to proceed, which alleges that billionaire Elon Musk unconstitutionally wielded executive power while serving as a presidential adviser during the Trump administration last year. On Monday, US District Judge Tanya Chutkan rejected the government’s request to completely dismiss a case brought by nonprofit organizations. These organizations argued that their members suffered due to federal funding cuts and the mass layoffs of government workers, which they assert Musk influenced in an unlawful manner.
It is among a select few lawsuits contesting the actions implemented by the Department of Government Efficiency project last year, which have persisted beyond Musk’s time in the US government. He resigned last spring. Chutkan agreed to dismiss claims that broadly accused the DOGE office of illegally orchestrating firings and terminating grants and contracts, concluding they were too broad and untethered to specific agency actions. However, she stated that the nonprofits could persist in their assertion that Musk — or any individual in charge of DOGE — was wielding authority akin to that of Senate-confirmed cabinet officials, thereby contravening the Constitution’s Appointments Clause.
Musk led the DOGE project when President Donald Trump returned to the White House last year and acted as the public face, despite the administration’s assertion that he was not the formal administrator of the office. At this early stage of the case, Chutkan wrote, the nonprofits’ “complaint amply alleges that the head of DOGE himself makes decisions and issues directives on matters as weighty as the termination of federal grants, contracts, and workers.”
A distinct case concerning the Appointments Clause, which involves DOGE and Musk’s purported involvement in the closure of the US Agency for International Development, is currently awaiting a decision from a federal judge in Maryland. On Monday, the Justice Department requested that the US Supreme Court intervene to prevent a government watchdog group from acquiring information and testimony regarding DOGE’s structure and activities.
