The Balance of Power

Power Given to Musk

Press Release:

Attor­ney Gen­er­al Tong Sues to Stop Elon Musk Uncon­sti­tu­tion­al Pow­er Grab

Preceding Event:

On, Jan. 20, 2025, Pres­i­dent Don­ald J. Trump signed Exec­u­tive Order 14158 estab­lish­ing an orga­ni­za­tion called the Depart­ment of Gov­ern­ment Effi­cien­cy (DOGE). Bil­lion­aire busi­ness­man Elon Musk was des­ig­nat­ed the head of DOGE and was giv­en pow­er akin to that of a Sen­ate approved, cab­i­net-lev­el depart­ment head. The stat­ed goal of DOGE was to shrink the fed­er­al gov­ern­ment, to max­i­mize effi­cien­cy in gov­ern­men­tal spend­ing and address pur­port­ed instances of fraud, waste, and abuse.

General Overview:

Accord­ing to the press release from Feb. 13, 2025, “Attor­ney Gen­er­al William Tong and thir­teen oth­er attor­neys gen­er­al filed a law­suit chal­leng­ing the unlaw­ful del­e­ga­tion of exec­u­tive pow­er to Elon Musk. The law­suit argues that Pres­i­dent Trump has vio­lat­ed the Appoint­ments Clause of the Unit­ed States Con­sti­tu­tion by cre­at­ing a new fed­er­al Depart­ment with­out Con­gres­sion­al approval and by grant­i­ng Musk sweep­ing pow­ers over the entire fed­er­al gov­ern­ment with­out seek­ing the advice and con­sent of the Sen­ate.

The attor­neys gen­er­al seek a court rul­ing declar­ing Musk’s actions uncon­sti­tu­tion­al and an injunc­tion bar­ring him from issu­ing orders to any per­son in the Exec­u­tive Branch out­side of DOGE, as well as inval­i­dat­ing his pre­vi­ous actions.”

Date of filing:

Feb. 13, 2025

Case #:

1:25-cv-00429

Case title:

STATE OF NEW MEXICO et al v. MUSK et al

Plaintiffs: 14 states

Defendants:

Court:

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Related case #(‘s):

1:25-cv-00643-TSC

Status as of Dec. 1, 2025:

OPEN
Last fil­ing: Nov. 24, 2025

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