Democratic attorneys general are asking a federal court to invalidate the work of Elon Musk and block further action by his government-slashing operation.
Three attorneys general announced their legal action Thursday in a press conference. Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez and Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel — all Democrats — are representing a coalition of 14 states in the legal action in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, they told reporters.
The lawsuit marks the latest high-profile legal challenge against the Trump administration in its first several weeks in office. Some of Trump’s early moves in office have already been blocked or paused by courts, prompting White House complaints of “activist” judges attempting to hamstring its policies.
The attorneys general are asking the court to find that Musk’s actions are “unconstitutional,” according to a fact sheet from the New Mexico Department of Justice. The states are seeking an injunction blocking Musk from issuing orders to agencies and the nullification of all executive actions taken by Musk through the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
“The core of our argument is that this empowerment of Mr. Musk violates a core principle that is centered in the appointments clause of the United States Constitution, which guarantees the appropriate balance of power between the three branches of government,” Torrez said Thursday.
The other states joining the lawsuit are California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington and Vermont, according to Mayes’ office.
“There is an ongoing coup against the Constitution of the United States happening as we speak,” Mayes said Thursday, who said attorney general offices have “been inundated with people who are angry about what Elon Musk is doing, especially with regard to his and DOGE’s access to their personal data and other information that they are clearly getting access to.”
Nessel warned about a “complete lack of transparency” in Musk’s actions. “We can’t ever truly know what he has accessed and may never know the depths of his reach,” she said.
