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A federal judge ordered tech billionaire Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency to release all internal records and justify in writing his decision to prune federal agencies, eliminate contracts and terminate thousands of government workers in the first seven weeks of the Trump administration.
US District Judge Tanya Chutkan on Wednesday gave the richest man alive three weeks to comply with the discovery order that requires him to answer questions about the internal workings of DOGE and turn over all relevant documents detailing his mass government slashings, according to the filing.
Chutkan’s decision came in response to a group of 14 Democratic state attorneys general who jointly sued DOGE and the Tesla CEO, claiming that Musk and his army of engineers tasked with trimming federal spending were exercising “unchecked power.”
The suit, filed in DC on Feb. 13, alleges that Musk’s authority requires Senate confirmation under the Constitution’s Appointments Clause.
“Mr. Musk does not occupy an office of the United States and has not had his nomination for an office confirmed by the Senate,” the lawsuit argued.
“His officer-level actions are thus unconstitutional.”
The 47th president tapped Musk, 53, as a “special government employee” to lead DOGE — which, despite its name, is not a federal department but rather a temporary organization — to discover and eliminate what the Trump administration has referred to as wasteful government spending, fraud and abuse.
Opponents, however, have expressed concern that Musk wasn’t elected by the American public but is altering the executive branch and firing thousands of federal workers without congressional approval.
Trump, 78, had billed the effort as a “Manhattan Project” to “dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies.”
Since then, the tech mogul’s team has run roughshod over officials at the Treasury Department and the US Agency for International Development, while canceling grants to left-wing organizations from the Department of Education and performing audits on the Department of Labor and other agencies.
Protests against Musk and his government cuts have erupted at Tesla dealerships across the country — with shares in the electric car manufacturer plummeting as the company faces mass boycotts.
Attacks on vehicles and charging stations, including arsons and other vandalism, have also been reported.
Trump responded to the backlash by vowing to purchase a red Tesla a to support his “incredible patriot.” The commander in chief also called arsonists targeting the car company domestic terrorists.
The SpaceX founder this week also suffered an 11-figure drop and his social media firm, X, was hit with a cyberattack.
Chutkan, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama, said her order does not apply to Trump, who is exempt from responding to any written questions or document demands.
