Elon Musk listens as reporters ask U.S. President Donald Trump and South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa questions during a press availability in the Oval Office at the White House on May 21, 2025 in Washington, DC.
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In its bid to have a lawsuit against Elon Musk, the Department of Government Efficiency and President Donald Trump dismissed, the White House had “unsuccessfully” tried to define Musk’s role in the federal government as temporary, a district court judge in Washington, D.C., said in an order out Tuesday.
A group of 14 states, led by New Mexico, had sued Musk, DOGE and Trump in February for allegedly violating the Constitution. The states’ attorneys general argued that Musk lacked the legal authority to make sweeping cuts and other changes to the federal government because he is not a Senate-confirmed officer of the government, and DOGE was never authorized by Congress.
Attorneys for the White House, in a motion they filed hoping to have the case dismissed, characterized Musk as holding an advisory and temporary job in the Trump administration only.
The judge in the federal court, Tanya Chutkan, found that Musk’s reach extendS throughout the executive branch without any known limits, even though the White House had tried to “minimize Musk’s role, framing him as a mere advisor without any formal authority.”
Judge Chutkan wrote that the 14 states made a credible argument that the tech billionaire and Trump megadonor now “occupies a continuing position” and “exercises significant authority,” all without “proper appointment” by Congress.
She also wrote that the states’ allegations that DOGE had gained “unauthorized access” to “private and proprietary information” were “sufficient to allege an injury,” and that the case can move forward.
Citing his mission as one of fiscal discipline, Musk has led the DOGE effort to eliminate certain federal offices, slash regulations, and rapidly cut down the federal workforce, while reprogramming or removing some government websites, software and systems.
Judge Chutkan decided that Trump could be dismissed as a defendant in the case, writing on Tuesday that the court “may not enjoin the President in the performance of his official duties.” The president does have “highly discretionary” power, she wrote, to select and nominate officers under the Appointments Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
