The government has argued that exceptional circumstances need to be met for such a deposition.
The Trump administration is attempting to shield its former DOGE czar, Elon Musk, from having to testify in a legal case involving his work for the “government efficiency” initiative. DOGE has been sued many times over the past year for its efforts to carve up the government, but one of the most longstanding litigation efforts involves its attack on USAID, the international aid agency, which was all but shuttered earlier this year.
In February, several former USAID officials and contractors filed a lawsuit against Musk and DOGE that accused them of an “unconstitutional power grab” and characterized the gutting of USAID, which was created by Congress, as a violation of the separation of powers. The litigation argued that Musk had exercised an unconstitutional level of “power within the US government that’s reserved for Senate-confirmed officials,” Bloomberg notes.
Musk worked as a “special government employee” for the first five months of this year, and the government has maintained that he was not in charge of major policies at DOGE, despite public rhetoric by Musk (and Trump) that would suggest it.
Earlier this year, the government attempted to get the case thrown out, but, in August, a Maryland judge ruled that it could continue. Now, at the very least, the government is hoping to keep Elon off the witness stand.
Bloomberg first noted that the government has now sought a protective order to keep Musk from having to testify. In a motion filed on Nov. 21, the government moved to seek a “protective order precluding the depositions of Elon Musk,” as well as two other former administration officials, Peter Marocco and Jeremy Lewin.
