A federal judge has allowed states and advocacy groups to continue part of their legal challenge against Elon Musk’s campaign to lay off federal workers, freeze federal spending and otherwise dismantle the U.S. government.
While Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency was officially disbanded after his departure from the Trump administration last summer, the principles of his project are still very much alive and well, wrote Judge Tanya Chutkan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in an opinion issued Monday evening.
Chutkan found that challengers in the case — a coalition of 14 states, the Japanese American Citizens League, Asian Pacific American Advocates and Sierra Club — had raised valid claims that DOGE terminated grants, fired federal workers and took other action to shrink the government “despite lacking lawful authority.”
The judge also denied the Trump administration’s attempt to dismiss claims from the states and groups that Musk violated the Constitution’s Appointments Clause by exercising the power of a principal officer of the government without confirmation by the Senate.
