First judge to find that Elon Musk's designation to lead the so-called Department of Government Efficiency likely violates the Appointments Clause of the Constitution because he's exercising significant authority reserved for duly appointed officers of the United States. Ruling: - ThreadSky

cristianfarias.com • 65 days ago

First judge to find that Elon Musk's designation to lead the so-called Department of Government Efficiency likely violates the Appointments Clause of the Constitution because he's exercising significant authority reserved for duly appointed officers of the United States.

Ruling:

Comments

urlcannonbear.bsky.social•65 days ago

The problem is "how is it enforced" when Trump LITERALLY controls the entire justice system. Surfer Girl can undo anything that displeases her Lord and Master.

marthawt.bsky.social•65 days ago

Took me a sec to get the reference to Pamela Jo.

s2root.bsky.social•64 days ago

What a truly amazing thing it would be if your constitution saved your constitution!

mohawkrainian.bsky.social•65 days ago

That judge is gonna be fired by Trump.

human-hello-wav.bsky.social•65 days ago

This is all well and good but I think we first need to deal with the fact that Trump will continue to say he won't follow any court ruling he doesn't like.

It's not enough to say "constiutional crisis" over and over. There needs to be a decisive "or else" from the courts and Democrats in Congress.

human-hello-wav.bsky.social•65 days ago

They need to call his bluff, create a plan for *when* he ignores an order, not wait until it happens. Be public about it, talk about it everywhere.

Maybe call some Generals in to a televised comittee hearing and ask if they're prepared to honor their oaths if the President becomes lawless.

doge-bag.bsky.social•65 days ago

So what will be the consequence? And who’s going to enforce it?

crobruncato.bsky.social•65 days ago

About fucking time.

cristianfarias.com•65 days ago

Key language:

cristianfarias.com•65 days ago

I should note: The ruling is limited to the plaintiffs who sued and USAID, which has been stripped for parts. Under the ruling, a duly appointed officer, like Marco Rubio, could well go ahead with the dismantling. And the order does not disturb Elon Musk's broader role in government.

Pyrrhic.

jzandin.bsky.social•65 days ago

And it's clear that the judge doesn't think the *executive branch* has the authority to close down USAID. (So if Rubio would take such a decision, that could easily be challenged.)

jzandin.bsky.social•65 days ago

Actually, it includes *all* USAID employees and personal service contractors:

cristianfarias.com•65 days ago

This is not the only case raising Appointments Clause violations. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan has another one, and she's plowing ahead with discovery and fact-finding to learn the extent of Elon Musk's authority:

https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-judge-orders-doge-musk-produce-cost-cutting-records-2025-03-13/

cristianfarias.com•65 days ago

I wrote about that other case, and the deeper meaning behind it, a couple of weeks ago here: https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/elon-musk-supreme-court-donald-trump

ewr1947.bsky.social•65 days ago

The Trump administration has argued that USDS records fall under the Presidential Records Act, which can restrict access to such information for up to 12 years after a president leaves office.

celtuk.bsky.social•65 days ago

More to the point how the hell does a ketamine user, a South African citizen and an immigrant to the United States, have any kind of security clearance that would be required for some of the places he's going into, like the NSA and the CIA!

ajr60.bsky.social•65 days ago

No doubt

albertsonb2.bsky.social•65 days ago

Finally

safetypup.bsky.social•65 days ago

First of many.

niblik.bsky.social•65 days ago

Took long enough

ironicchaos.bsky.social•65 days ago

This ruling comes almost two months after he started in that role. The pace of the judiciary is not designed to deal with the DOGE rampage as it happens.

Comments

Posting Rules

Reply