White House tries to block attempt to force Musk testimony

The relationship between Elon Musk and Donald Trump might still be a fairly tenuous one, but the White House is trying to block attempts to make the former head of DOGE testify in a lawsuit against that possibly-disbanded government agency.

The suit, filed by several former officials and contractors of USAID, says DOGE violated the separation of powers and accuses Musk and the cost-cutting department of an “unconstitutional power grab.”

The White House, late last week, filed a motion for a protective order that would ensure Musk (along with two other officials) did not have to give a deposition in the case, which is being held in federal court in Maryland.

“As the government understands it, Plaintiffs seek to depose each to determine who made the decision to take certain actions and the current operating status of USAID,” the motion reads. “But longstanding limitations on deposing high-level Executive Branch personnel requires Plaintiffs to show exceptional circumstances exist before the depositions occur. Because Plaintiffs have not made — and cannot make — that showing, a protective order is warranted.”

The Justice Department has previously said in court that Musk did not make any major policy decisions, but only acted as an advisor to Trump. The judge overseeing the USAID case, however, said in a May ruling allowing the case to proceed that the plaintiffs had presented evidence that seemed to show Musk taking personal credit for the agency’s closure.

Higher courts have had differing opinions, though. In May, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked an attempt to get DOGE Administrator Amy Gleason to testify in a separate case.

The status of DOGE is questionable these days. Reuters reported the department had been disbanded last week, quoting Office of Personnel Management Director Scott Kupor as saying DOGE “doesn’t exist” anymore. The official DOGE account on X denied this, though, writing “As usual, this is fake news from @Reuters.”