Group of state attorneys general strike back at Trump with lawsuit challenging Elon Musk and DOGE’s authority

A new lawsuit challenges Elon Musk’s authority to purge federal departments and access sensitive government data as attorneys general from 14 states launched a coordinated effort to strip him of his power.

The lawsuit criticizes Musk’s ‘virtually unchecked power’ as the head of the newly created Department of Government  Efficiency under President Donald Trump’s administration. 

The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Washington DC on Thursday, accusing the billionaire ‘First Buddy’ of performing tasks that should be well out of his remit.

As part of the complaint, the group hope Musk will be banned from accessing sensitive information or having the power to make staffing decisions and wipe out entire departments.

They simultaneously have asked the court to declare that Musk’s 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.

Musk’s efforts have enraged Democrats and federal employees who have taken to the streets to protest his access and cuts. 

President Trump continues to back Musk’s efforts, describing it as a key step in fulfilling his campaign promises.  

The Democratic Attorneys general, however, challenged Musk’s authority to act on Trump’s behalf. 

‘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 press 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’ by giving Musk unchecked power.

He suggested that the President should instead be 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.’

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.

On Wednesday, Trump said that Musk’s group had gone from 20 people to as many as 100. 

‘He’s a successful guy,’ Trump said about Musk. ‘That’s why we want him doing this. We don’t want an unsuccessful guy doing this.’  

The DOGE team updated their government website Wednesday promising to release publicly available data on Friday of the savings that they had uncovered. 

The team of technology experts have been terrifying government employees by entering department buildings and combing through public data looking for potential cuts. 

Currently DOGE has saved the federal government $45.44 billion dollars, according to a tally conducted by doge-tracker.com. 

Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday ordering federal agencies to coordinate with DOGE to make ‘large-scale reductions in force.’ 

‘He’s a successful guy,’ Trump said about Musk. ‘That’s why we want him doing this. We don’t want an unsuccessful guy doing this.’  

The DOGE team updated their government website Wednesday promising to release publicly available data on Friday of the savings that they had uncovered. 

The team of technology experts have been terrifying government employees by entering department buildings and combing through public data looking for potential cuts. 

Currently DOGE has saved the federal government $45.44 billion dollars, according to a tally conducted by doge-tracker.com. 

Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday ordering federal agencies to coordinate with DOGE to make ‘large-scale reductions in force.’ 

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.

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 job – 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.’