Trump attempts to block Elon Musk testifying before Congress as explosive filings say Tesla boss acted illegally
Court filings in a federal case are looking into the dismantlement of USAID
President Donald Trump is attempting to block Elon Musk from testifying before Congress, according to reports.
This comes as the explosive filings claim that the Tesla boss acted illegally.
Court filings in a federal case are looking into the dismantlement of USAID, which is a foreign aid agency, during Musk’s time as an advisor to the president.
Earlier this year, the billionaire was appointed as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), where he was tasked with hacking away at the federal budget.
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According to the filings, Musk’s actions were illegal when he allegedly directed the shutdown of the agency.
Since then, lawyers from the Department of Justice are attempting to block the court from compelling Musk into a deposition after plaintiffs argued that Musk illegally dismantled USAID by conducting ‘mass firings, cancelled grants and dismantling of agencies’.
But the lawyers argue that Musk’s role was simply to advise the president, making him not liable for constitutional violations, although the plaintiffs disagree, claiming that the world’s richest man ‘exercised unconstitutional power’ in his role.
Back in August, the Department of Justice attempted to have the lawsuit thrown out of court, which was rejected.
One piece of evidence which has been cited is from Musk’s own social media post on his platform X, formerly Twitter, where he wrote: “We spent the weekend feeding USAID into the wood chipper.”
Musk had found himself at the center of government earlier this year after supporting Trump during his presidential election campaign last year.
During Trump’s campaign to return to the Oval Office, Musk donated a whopping $288 million and was later appointed to the unelected role following Trump’s inauguration.
While not technically a government department, DOGE was purported to be an outside advisor to the president on federal spending.
Musk went on to spend the next few months hacking away at the federal budget, with most of the savings being gained by canceling contracts and triggering mass layoffs.
However, in May of this year, he announced that he was leaving his post in government, taking to X to write: “As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President @realDonaldTrump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending.
“The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government.”
It is not yet clear whether Musk will avoid facing the court of his role in DOGE.