US judge allows lawsuit against Musk and DOGE to proceed
What's the story
A US District Court judge has ruled that a lawsuit challenging Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)'s alleged illegal control over federal government operations can continue.
Judge Tanya Chutkan has permitted a group of 14 states to proceed with the lawsuit and rejected the administration's attempt to dismiss the case.
However, she dismissed the states' claims against President Donald Trump, ruling the court cannot interfere with "the performance of his official duties."
Case details
Allegations against Musk and DOGE's influence
The lawsuit alleges that Musk, as a special government employee, has been given powers similar to those of Senate-confirmed Cabinet officials.
The plaintiffs argue that he makes decisions about federal expenditures, contracts, government property, and even the existence of federal agencies.
They claim Trump violated the Appointments Clause of the Constitution by giving Musk and DOGE broad authority to carry out mass layoffs, terminate grants and contracts, and access crucial government data, without congressional approval.
Musk's stance
Musk's response and future plans
While Musk has maintained that he isn't in charge of DOGE, he has been regularly named as the leader of the effort by Trump and other administration officials.
On Wednesday evening, he thanked Trump for "the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending" as his time as a Special Government Employee was coming to an end.
He had earlier promised to step back from government work to focus on Tesla, SpaceX, and his other businesses.
Legislative critique
Savings goals and criticism of congressional legislation
Musk had previously claimed on a call with Tesla investors that the DOGE team has "made a lot of progress in addressing waste and fraud."
However, he also lowered his savings targets from $2 trillion to $150 billion by the end of the fiscal year.
The ambitious goal is likely hard to achieve given DOGE's targets for cuts and its history of exaggerated savings claims.