A federal judge has ordered that Elon Musk and his so-called Department of Government Efficiency turn over a wide array of records and answer questions about plans it crafted to downsize federal agencies, fire employees and suspend federal contracts.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan’s order Wednesday is a win for a group of 14 Democratic state attorneys general who are suing President Donald Trump, Musk and DOGE, arguing that Musk has unconstitutionally wielded immense power in ways that are damaging their states. Any information the states glean as a result of Chutkan’s decision will help her determine whether to block Musk and DOGE’s government activities altogether.
It’s the first time a judge has ordered Musk to produce documents in a court challenge to his aggressive campaign to slash and reshape the federal bureaucracy. Chutkan indicated her order was primarily aimed at identifying the DOGE officials Musk has embedded across the government and details about the “parameters of DOGE’s and Musk’s authority.”
Chutkan, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, gave Musk and DOGE three weeks to comply with the so-called discovery requests.
