Judge slams 'perverse reading' of Constitution by Trump admin fighting lawsuit challenging DOGE

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Law & Crime

May 28th, 2025, 12:18 pm


A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has rejected an attempt from Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to have a lawsuit against them thrown out — ruling they “unsuccessfully” tried to “minimize” the tech billionaire’s role — while also handing a victory to President Donald Trump, granting his request to be dropped from the case.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan ruled Tuesday that a multistate lawsuit against the president’s ally may continue, although President Donald Trump himself will no longer be a defendant. As Law&Crime has previously reported, 14 states sued Musk, DOGE, and Trump in February, arguing the defendants violated the Appointments Clause of the Constitution by putting Musk at the head of the organization, which is not an official government agency.

The state attorneys general contended that Trump, Musk, and DOGE overstepped their authority in shrinking government agencies and firing federal workers, as Musk was never subject to Senate confirmation and Congress never authorized DOGE, which Trump established via executive order to “implement the President’s DOGE Agenda, by modernizing Federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity.” The defendants sought to have the case thrown out, arguing Musk was merely an adviser without formal authority. Chutkan, a Barack Obama appointee, was unconvinced.

“The Constitution does not permit the Executive to commandeer the entire appointments power by unilaterally creating a federal agency pursuant to Executive Order and insulating its principal officer from the Constitution as an ‘adviser’ in name only,” the wrote. “This is precisely what Plaintiffs claim the Executive has done.” The judge criticized the defendant’s “circular reading of the Appointments Clause that would allow the President to restructure the entire federal government without legislative authority and to evade judicial review.”

Read more: https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/judge-slams-perverse-reading-of-constitution-by-trump-admin-fighting-lawsuit-challenging-doge-but-puts-one-less-case-on-the-presidents-docket/

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Full headline: Judge slams ‘perverse reading’ of Constitution by Trump admin fighting lawsuit challenging DOGE, but puts one less case on the president’s docket

Link to RULING (PDF) - https://ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show_public_doc?2025cv0429-93

REFERENCE - https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143395739

(There are so many damn cases going on now but maybe this is why Muskrat was whining yesterday - under-the-bus throw)