A federal judge said on Friday that it appears to be “actually inaccurate” to the Trump administration to continue to insist that Elon Musk has no official position in a process that led to collective release of federal workers and the country’s foreign aid agency’s decline.
The judge urged, Theodore d. Chuang from the American boycott court for Maryland Province, government lawyers It defies the constitutional directly From the work group known as the Ministry of Governmental efficiency, or the American DOGE service.
Until this week, government officials resisted the response to investigations into those who were officially responsible for the work squad, except for saying that he was not Mr. Musk. (Also, Mr. Musk was among its employees, as the government said) on Tuesday, a White House official said that Amy Gleleson, the former CEO of Investment in Health Care, was a prosecutor official.
On Friday, Joshua denied E. Gardner, a lawyer in the Civil Section of the Ministry of Justice, should have any role in the Ministry of Governmental efficiency. This is though It is clear that Mr. Musk leads his initiativesIncluding an e -mail that was detonated at the end of last week, he tried to ask all federal employees to respond with a list of five achievements from the previous week. Although e -mail was sent by the Personnel Management Office, the human resources arm of the federal government, Mr. Musk said on Wednesday this I suggest that And that the president has agreed.
Judge Huang, Mr. Gardner, who led the agency before Mrs. Gleson An official was announced. Mr. Gardner said he did not ask, then he corrected himself immediately, saying he asked but “he was unable to get an answer” after that, Mr. Musk was not. The judge said he found it “very suspicious” that the government had no answer.
The three -hour hearing was the latest in a lawsuit foot In mid -February, on behalf of 26 current and former employees or contractors at the United States Agency for International Development. Foreign Aid Agency, which is a special goal for Mr. Musk, It was dismantled quickly In the months that followed Mr. Trump took office. In recent days, the appointed to the Trump administration has launched hundreds of employees who help manage responses to urgent humanitarian crises all over the world, and leave the agency’s future In disturbances.
The prosecutors’ lawyers argued on Friday that Mr. Musk’s operation was unconstitutional by its nature because he was not appointed by the president and was not approved by the Senate, as is required for high -level officials. Sentence of appointments From the constitution.
Nurim Eisen, one of the lawyers, said that Mr. Musk is “the strongest major officer in the government alongside the president, and one of the strongest in the history of our country.”
He added that from the historical point of view, no character was behaved in the executive branch, not even the chief of staff of the White House, who is the best assistant to the president, with power like Mr. Musk. This means that Mr. Musk’s actions in the case of the United States Agency for International Development – sending teams to close the programs, and cut the systems to reach employees, contractors, and music through the data of the sensitive and confidential agency – to “a serious violation of the separation of the authorities,” said Mr. Eisen.
Mimi Marzani, Mr. Eisen’s vehicle, described Mr. Musk’s role as a “makeup position” leading a “super agency”.
The court’s files were submitted in a torrent of lawsuits that challenge Mr. Musk and the incursions of his colleagues in the federal agencies a decisive window, albeit limited, in the Ministry of Governmental efficiency. Since some of the only direct accounts, they drew a picture of A tightly managed operation Where small groups of government employees have swept inside and outside the agencies, and seizing data in the apparent pursuit of greater political goals.
Mr. Gardner argued that there was no attempt by the Ministry of Governmental efficiency to close the United States Agency for International Development, but rather was “reorganizing in consultation with Congress.” He added that he does not believe that the president has the ability to close the agency completely.
Judge Chuang prompted this description, citing a message to Congress from Foreign Minister Marco Rubio, who announced that he had assumed the position of US Agency Agency for International Development and saying that the agency “may be canceled in accordance with the applicable law.”
“The wood cat is usually not reorganized,” Judge Chuang replied, and it appears to refer to a After social media From Mr. Musk in early February, in which he said: “We spent the weekend in feeding the United States Agency for International Development in wooden pieces.”
Mr. Gardner replied, “I don’t even know what this means, your honor.”
Judge Chuang granted a request last week to move forward at Friday’s session in order to think if Mr. Musk team would prevent the agency’s changes. The session came amid reducing its size in the agency, where it moved to ending Thousands of contracts and grants, eliminating about 90 percent of the American Agency for International Development.
Earlier this week, a federal judge in Washington The agency gave midnight time On Thursday, to issue payments to a set of programs and organizations, the agency has long funded. The administration also submitted an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court, and on Wednesday night, the head of judges John J. Roberts I issued a temporary administrative residence.
On Friday, the plaintiffs of Judge Chuang requested the prevention of Doug’s representatives from combing data and systems of the United States for International Development, as a short -term aid. They said that their clients, who were focusing on the outside, suffered from “physical and psychological harm”, lost payments and were cut off from the agency’s and other “life saving services” while waiting for more direction.
The judge refused to issue an immediate decision.
