Elon Musk‘s authority to purge federal departments and access sensitive government data through DOGE has been challenged by attorneys general from 14 states across America in a coordinated effort to strip him of his power.
In a newly filed lawsuit, 14 attorneys general criticized Musk’s ‘virtually unchecked power’ as the head of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency.
The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Washington DC on Thursday, and accuses the billionaire ‘First Buddy’ of performing tasks that should only be done by a nominated official.
The court has been asked to stop Musk from accessing sensitive information, make staffing decisions or remove entire departments, while simultaneously declaring that his actions have no legal impact.
It comes as Musk and his newly formed army of young engineers dismantle federal departments in an effort to cut costs and reduce waste.
‘We are asking the court to invalidate his directives and actions and to issue a restraining order,’ Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said in a conference alongside attorneys general from Arizona and New Mexico.
California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington attorneys general also joined the lawsuit.
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez warned President Trump that he is demonstrating ‘weakness’ in deploying Musk rather than advancing his agenda through a Republican-controlled Congress.
‘Move fast and breaking things may work in Silicon Valley for a tech company,’ Torrez said. ‘It’s not good governance and it’s unconstitutional.’
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The group of high-powered Musk critics are now urging the court to identify ways that ‘any data obtained through unlawful agency access was used’ and remove access that Musk and his team already have.
They also want the court to prevent DOGE from making any more changes to the use of public funds, or government contracts.
Musk’s DOGE, along with the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), has also been granted sweeping powers to assert greater control over the hiring of any federal employee.
President Trump put in place a 90-day hiring freeze when he returned to the White House for his second term.
‘The people voted for major government reform and that’s what the people are going to get,’ Musk said on Tuesday, from the Oval Office.
‘They’re going to get what they voted for.’
One the tactics includes ridding departments of employees who are still in their probationary periods – which can last up to two years in some agencies.
These workers have limited recourse available to them to push back on the decision, and amount to seven per cent of the full civilian workforce of two million.
The mass layoffs are taking place amid multiple lawsuits to stop DOGE’s efforts at reshaping federal agencies.
On Wednesday, a federal judge lifted the temporary freeze on President Trump’s ‘buyout’ offer to federal workers as the administration looks to shrink the workforce.
A union which represents hundreds of thousands of federal workers and others had sued last week to stop the deferred buyout offer’s February 6 deadline.
More than 65,000 workers had accepted the offer as of Friday, according to an administration official familiar with the matter even as the deadline was temporarily paused in court.
DOGE estimated between five and 10 percent of government workers would take the offer and that it would save an estimated $100 billion a year.
President Trump has repeatedly expressed satisfaction with the work that Musk and his team are undertaking.
‘I want to commend Elon because he’s done a fantastic – he doesn’t need this,’ Trump said earlier this week.
‘He’s abused by you people every day. He’s found more things than anybody could find. He’s got the credibility to do it.
‘His group of people, they started off with 12, I call them 12 geniuses. They started off with 12, they went to 20, and 25 and now they’re up to almost 100. People are joining to help them. This is a massive fraud that’s taken place.’
This is a breaking news story. More to come.
