{"id":266599,"date":"2025-06-01T07:15:38","date_gmt":"2025-06-01T07:15:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/business\/finance\/elon-musks-court-fights-to-outlast-his-time-at-white-house\/"},"modified":"2025-06-01T07:15:38","modified_gmt":"2025-06-01T07:15:38","slug":"elon-musks-court-fights-to-outlast-his-time-at-white-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=266599","title":{"rendered":"Elon Musk\u2019s court fights to outlast his time at White House"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n
<\/p>\n

As Elon Musk leaves his formal US government position, dozens of legal challenges over the billionaire\u2019s powerful role in the Trump administration and the work of the Department of Government Efficiency will press ahead.<\/p>\n

Musk announced his departure<\/a> earlier this week. At a White House press conference<\/a> with President Donald Trump Friday, Musk said he\u2019d continue to be a \u201cfriend and an adviser.\u201d He didn\u2019t elaborate on what that would entail.<\/p>\n

At least three lawsuits are pending that accuse Trump of unconstitutionally handing the Tesla<\/a> Inc. and SpaceX<\/a> chief executive officer the equivalent of a cabinet-level post over the past four months. The challengers behind those cases are vowing to continue those fights.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe case is absolutely relevant,\u201d said Anjana Samant, a senior lawyer in the New Mexico Department of Justice, which is leading a group of states in one of the challenges.<\/p>\n

The Democratic state attorneys want a judge to invalidate actions they contend Musk unlawfully took to upend federal government operations and to declare that the DOGE project has gone far beyond what US law allows.<\/p>\n

The larger collection of lawsuits challenging Musk and DOGE activities to date are certain to continue. They include fights over DOGE access to Americans\u2019 personal information, whether the office is subject to public records laws and its role in canceling federal grants and contracts, dismantling agencies and firing workers.<\/p>\n

Hours after Musk and Trump appeared together in the White House, a federal appeals court handed the administration another DOGE-related loss. In a 2-1 order, an appellate panel left in place a lower court order that blocks the administration from carrying out mass layoffs across the US government.<\/p>\n

Read More: Musk Departs US Government With His Business Empire in Flux<\/a><\/p>\n

White House spokesperson Harrison Fields declined to comment on the administration\u2019s next steps in the various court cases, but said government lawyers \u201cwill continue to fight every single frivolous lawsuit that is brought our way.\u201d <\/p>\n

A Justice Department spokesperson and Musk didn\u2019t respond to requests for comment. The Justice Department has represented Musk and DOGE in court and would be expected to continue defending against allegations related to government work.<\/p>\n

Musk recently had criticized Trump\u2019s tax cut proposal but he and Trump praised each other during Friday\u2019s press event in the Oval Office. He also slammed the wave of court rulings against the administration, saying that \u201cimmense judicial overreach\u201d is \u201cundermining the people\u2019s faith in the legal system.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some legal experts say Musk\u2019s formal exit could give the Justice Department grounds to argue for dismissal.<\/p>\n

Jeff Powell, a constitutional law professor at Duke University School of Law, said claims over the legality of Musk\u2019s position under the Constitution\u2019s Appointments Clause would no longer be valid once he\u2019s left government service. Powell called the claims \u201cmeritless\u201d to the extent the challengers want to hold Musk or DOGE responsible for communicating Trump\u2019s \u201cwill\u201d to Senate-confirmed officials who carried out the actions. <\/p>\n

\u201cMusk was a minion,\u201d Powell said. \u201cThe lawsuits may have other things, they may challenge the substantive validity of the reduction of force or cancellation of contracts, but that had nothing to do with Musk.\u201d<\/p>\n

Norm Eisen, executive chair of Democracy Defenders Action and a lead attorney in another case challenging Musk\u2019s appointment, cited the billionaire\u2019s comments that he would stay involved with the administration<\/a> for the rest of Trump\u2019s term as a reason why it was \u201cvery important\u201d that he remain a party in court.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou do have to take account of his prior statements that he\u2019s gonna keep a hand in \u2014 to my mind, that\u2019s an unconstitutional hand,\u201d Eisen said.<\/p>\n

\u2018Principal Officer\u2019<\/h3>\n

Courts can dismiss cases if circumstances change. When Trump lost the 2020 election and left office in January 2021, the Supreme Court dismissed long-running fights<\/a> over whether Trump\u2019s business interests violated anti-corruption provisions of the Constitution.<\/p>\n

Musk joined the administration as a \u201cspecial government employee,\u201d a temporary status set to expire this month. Legal challenges citing the Appointments Clause allege that Musk was functioning as a \u201cprincipal officer\u201d similar to Senate-confirmed agency heads who only answer to the president. Each of the lawsuits include other claims and defendants. <\/p>\n

A Washington federal judge this week denied<\/a> the government\u2019s request to dismiss the states\u2019 case over Musk\u2019s appointment. US District Judge Tanya Chutkan wrote that there might be a viable Appointments Clause claim against whomever Trump put in charge of the DOGE effort, given the allegations that the position had evolved to influence multiple agencies.<\/p>\n

Brent Ferguson<\/a> of the Campaign Legal Center, which brought a third constitutional challenge to Musk\u2019s authority in the administration that\u2019s also before Chutkan, said they were \u201cfull steam ahead.\u201d He said they wouldn\u2019t take Musk and White House officials at their word that he\u2019s no longer part of DOGE\u2019s work and demand evidence that proves his status.<\/p>\n

\u201cRegardless of the title that he\u2019s given by the government or what they say his role is, the real question for the Appointments Clause is, what actual power does he have,\u201d Ferguson said.<\/p>\n

Dozens more lawsuits have been filed<\/a> that relate to DOGE\u2019s activities. Judges have handed down a mix of rulings, in some cases greenlighting DOGE-affiliated staff\u2019s access to agency records and allowing cuts to federal spending and the workforce. In other cases, they\u2019ve restricted DOGE from seeing Americans\u2019 information, revived spending and put fired federal personnel back on the job.<\/p>\n

Skye Perryman, president of Democracy Forward, a group involved in a number of lawsuits against the administration, said in a statement that they would continue to challenge the legality of what Musk accomplished.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile he may have left Washington, the havoc he has created has not,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As Elon Musk leaves his formal US government position, dozens of legal challenges over the billionaire\u2019s powerful role in the Trump administration and the work of the Department of Government Efficiency will press ahead. Musk announced his departure earlier this week. 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