Plaintiffs In DOGE Case Seize On Trump’s Comments About Elon Musk’s Role

At least one group of plaintiffs has taken notice of President Donald Trump’s acknowledgment on Tuesday that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is “headed up” by billionaire Elon Musk.

Trump’s remarks contradicted the administration’s repeated assertions that Musk is not in charge of the task force.

Newsweek previously reached out to the White House for comment about Trump’s statements regarding Musk.

The Context

Musk and DOGE have been hit with a slew of lawsuits since the agency began unilaterally shutting down congressionally approved federal agencies and attempting to fire tens of thousands of federal workers.

The White House has since tried to put some distance between Musk and DOGE, saying in a recent court filing that the SpaceX CEO is “not an employee of the U.S. DOGE Service or the U.S. DOGE Service Temporary Organization, adding: “Mr. Musk is not the U.S. DOGE Service Administrator.”

Last week, a White House official told Newsweek that Amy Gleason is the acting DOGE administrator.

What To Know

On Wednesday, the plaintiffs in one lawsuit against DOGE and Musk seized on Trump’s comments and brought them to the attention of U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang, who is overseeing the case.

Their letter, obtained by Newsweek, specifically pointed out Trump’s assertion that he “created the brand new Department of Government Efficiency. DOGE. Perhaps you’ve heard of it. Perhaps. Which is headed by Elon Musk, who is in the gallery tonight.”

“Under the Trump administration, all of these scams—and there are far worse—but I didn’t think it was appropriate to talk about them,” Trump added during his speech. “Many more have been found out and exposed and swiftly terminated by a group of very intelligent, mostly young people headed up by Elon, and we appreciate it.”

“Plaintiffs respectfully write to bring to the Court’s attention additional relevant admissions made last night,” Wednesday’s letter said. “Defendants consent to providing these facts to the Court. During his joint address to Congress, President Donald Trump twice identified Defendant Musk as DOGE’s leader.”

It went on: “Judicial notice is appropriate here because the fact of President Trump’s admissions ‘is not subject to reasonable dispute’ and is ‘accurately and readily determined from sources whose accuracy cannot reasonably be questioned.'”

Trump “made these remarks before a joint session of Congress and on live television before millions of Americans; the full transcript is readily available,” the letter said.

The plaintiffs in the case are 26 unnamed current and former employees and contractors for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which DOGE has rapidly dismantled since Trump took office, canceling the vast majority of its overseas work and leaving a skeleton crew of remaining workers.

The suit accuses DOGE of violating the Appointments Clause of the Constitution because Musk has not been appointed by the president and is not a Senate-confirmed official.

At a court hearing last week, Chuang was deeply skeptical of the government’s lack of clarity about the scope of Musk’s role in DOGE.

“Who was the head of DOGE before Amy Gleason?” Chuang asked a Justice Department lawyer at the hearing.

“I can’t answer that,” said Justice Department attorney Joshua Gardner. “I don’t know.”

“I mean, that seems like a knowable fact, doesn’t it?” Chuang said.

“I’m sure it’s knowable,” Gardner said. “I just don’t know it. I’m very conscious of being accurate with the court … I just can’t make it a representation.”

Chuang then called the administration’s lack of information on Musk’s role at DOGE “highly suspicious.”

What People Are Saying

Norm Eisen, the executive chair of State Democracy Defenders Fund, one of the groups representing the plaintiffs, told Newsweek: “Last night Trump made damaging admissions in our Appointments Clause case against Musk and DOGE. He directly contradicted DOJ’s representations that Musk was not in charge of DOGE. We just filed with the court to take judicial notice— this is more proof that Musk’s appointment is violating the Constitution.”

Gardner told Chuang that DOGE is not trying to shut down USAID, saying in part: The agency is going through “a reorganization in consultation with Congress.”

Chuang pushed back, pointing out one of Musk’s posts on X in which he said his team fed USAID “into the wood chipper”: “The wood chipper isn’t usually reorganization.”

What Happens Next

DOGE has continued slashing the government workforce even as it faces a slew of lawsuits over its authority and the scope of Musk’s role. On Tuesday, the Associated Press reported that the IRS is planning to cut its workforce of 90,000 employees by roughly half.