Elon Musk and other officials who helped dismantle USAID last year must provide oral testimony in a pending lawsuit over their role in the agency’s takedown, a federal judge ordered this week.
Judge Theodore Chuang of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, an Obama appointee, wrote in a Wednesday order that there is “no alternative” to deposing Musk and other officials in the lawsuit brought by anonymous USAID employees and contractors.
The lawsuit is one of many ongoing court challenges in response to the Trump administration’s early push to slash the federal government using the so-called Department of Government Efficiency operation led by Musk. Although the billionaire Tesla CEO formally left his DOGE role last May, his legal entanglements continue.
Musk, the White House and the State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment for this story.
