Current and former employees of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) sued Elon Musk and his cost-cutting operation, levying the novel argument that the world’s richest man should have been confirmed by the Senate before wielding such enormous power.
The Trump administration, Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have moved in recent weeks to stanch the flow of foreign aid, dismantle the agency responsible for administering it and dismiss thousands of people working for the agency at home and abroad.
The administration has also been aggressively cutting contracts, disclosing in court documents Wednesday evening that it had canceled more than 200 since Tuesday morning.
This constitutes “the performance of [] significant governmental dut[ies]” that may be “exercised only by persons who are ‘Officers of the United States,’” which requires an appointment under the Constitution’s Appointments Clause, the USAID employees argue.
“In his government role, Defendant Musk exercises an extraordinary amount of power. Indeed, the scope and reach of his executive authority appears unprecedented in U.S. history,” the lawsuit states.
Musk is now deploying his “predictable and reckless slash-and-burn pattern” to other agencies, including the Department of Education, according to the lawsuit.
Several suits are moving through the courts, challenging various aspects of the dismantling of USAID.
A federal judge last Friday temporarily paused the administration’s plans to put thousands of USAID workers on administrative leave. The judge is holding a hearing Thursday in the case.
Another federal judge is weighing a potential pause on Trump’s foreign aid freeze brought by several contractors that allege the government has not paid bills for work already performed.
