A federal judge has cleared the runway for a coalition of 14 states to continue their legal battle against Elon Musk’s aggressive cost-cutting campaign inside the U.S. government—a mission launched under Donald Trump’s newly minted “efficiency agency” known as DOGE.
The ruling, issued by U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan in Washington, D.C., rejected an attempt to shut the case down entirely. While the judge spared Trump from the suit, citing presidential immunity for official acts, she gave the green light for the case to proceed against Musk and DOGE itself.
At the heart of the challenge is an accusation that Musk—appointed by Trump to lead the government’s cost-slashing crusade—has been wielding unchecked power without any formal approval from Congress or Senate confirmation. The states argue that this violates constitutional limits on executive authority.
“DOGE is acting like a wrecking ball through the federal bureaucracy without any legal foundation,” said Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield, one of the 14 attorneys general behind the lawsuit. “The Constitution doesn’t give Musk a blank check.”
Filed in February, the lawsuit takes aim at Trump’s decision to hand Musk sweeping control over government spending, alleging that agencies have been gutted and programs dissolved without legislative approval. DOGE—short for Department of Government Efficiency—was formed shortly after Trump’s return to the White House in January and quickly moved to slash thousands of federal jobs under Musk’s command.
So far, around 20 separate legal challenges to Musk’s role have surfaced in courts across the country. The outcomes have been mixed—some judges skeptical, others siding with plaintiffs claiming constitutional overreach.
Neither the White House nor Musk have issued a public response to the latest ruling.
While the courtroom drama unfolds, DOGE continues to reshape Washington from the inside—raising profound questions about power, accountability, and the future of the federal government under this unorthodox partnership.
