USAID Strikes Back, as Judge Says Elon Musk Must Testify in Lawsuit

Lawyers for former employees of the shuttered U.S. Agency for International Development will depose Elon Musk, the former aide to President Donald Trump who led efforts to shut down the agency and cut other wasteful spending.

The Trump administration closed the agency after auditors with Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency found multiple examples of waste.  

In March, 26 current and former USAID employees sued, claiming Musk lacked the constitutional authority to exercise government power in his role.  

The Trump administration acted to preclude Musk from being deposed in the case, making a motion for a protective order. The motion also included former acting USAID Administrator Peter Marocco and former DOGE team leader Jeremy Lewin. 

U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang of the District of Maryland, appointed by President Barack Obama, rejected the administration’s motion on Wednesday. That means, for now, Musk will be deposed by lawyers for the former USAID employees.  

In January 2025, Trump signed an executive order turning the existing White House office of U.S. Digital Services into the U.S. DOGE Service.  

During Trump’s first term in office, Chuang imposed a nationwide injunction against Trump’s travel ban that prevented immigrants from certain countries, predominantly majority-Muslim, from entering the United States.

The USAID lawsuit asserted Musk functioned as a principal officer, which should have required Senate confirmation. It further argued Congress did not authorize the president to appoint someone to that position as an “inferior officer,” meaning a non-Senate-confirmed official. 

The lawsuit wants the federal court to declare that DOGE acted unlawfully, and enjoin any future actions by the body.