U.S. Constitution

By Miriam Raftery

February 20, 2025 (Greenbell, Md.) -- A legal complaint filed by 26 unnamed former and current employees in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland alleges that Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has violated the Constitution’s Appointments Clause.  That clause mandates that presidential appointments require the advice and consent of the Senate, which President Donald Trump did not seek when he appointed Musk and delegate vast powers.

Musk, without any Congressional approval, has virtually deleted entire agencies such as USAID, accessed millions of Americans’ private data, deleted government records such as health reports and  records on missing and murdered indigenous persons, and ordered mass firings, some without required authorization. Even employees charged with overseeing air traffic safety and nuclear weapons lost their jobs in the purge by Musk’s team.

“Questions regarding Defendant Musk’s and DOGE’s role, scope of authority, and proper appointment processes are not merely academic. Plaintiffs — among countless other American individuals and entities — have had their lives upended as a result of the actions undertaken by Defendants Musk and DOGE,” according to the lawsuit.

The employees, though unidentified, collectively have decades of service at federal agencies, including USAID, where on Feb. 2 Musk’s DOGE personnel broke into the agency’s headquarters and cancelled international aid programs such as those to ease hunger in Africa, Gaza and Ukraine, distribution of vaccines and life-saving medicines in countries around the world.

Citing damages to their careers and financial security, the plaintiffs are asking the court to block “Defendant Musk and his DOGE subordinates from performing their significant and wide-ranging duties unless and until Defendant Musk is properly appointed pursuant to the U.S. Constitution.”

The lawsuit is one of several filed over DOGE’s actions, though the first based on the Constitution’s appointments clause.