A judge appeared to grow frustrated during a three-hour hearing in a lawsuit that accuses Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency of violating the Appointments Clause, according to a report.
Anna Bower, senior editor at Lawfare, flagged on X a tense interaction between U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang in the case and the government's counsel, Justice Department attorney Joshua Gardner, who couldn't provide answers about who's in charge at the initiative, which is tasked with slashing trillions out of the federal budget.
ALSO READ: 'Absolutely unconscionable': Ex-Republican demands Trump removed from office after fight
"Who was the head of DOGE before Amy Gleason?" the judge asked, according to a transcript shared by Bower.
"I can't answer that, I don't know," government counsel responded.
"I mean, that seems like a knowable fact, doesn't it?" the judge shot back.
"I'm sure it is knowable; I just don't know it. I'm very conscious of being accurate with the court," the counsel replied. "I just can't make a representation."
But the judge wasn't satisfied with the deflection.
"Have you asked anyone?" the judge asked.
"I have not asked ... actually, strike that. I have asked previously, and I was not able to get an answer," counsel replied.
"Are you saying there was an administrator before Ms. Gleason?" the judge asked. "Or that there was nobody until this new person was put in?"
In a separate transcript, the judge called the government's responses "highly suspicious."
"Is there a piece of paper, like an appointment paper? Is there one that says Elon Musk, senior adviser to the president?" Chuang asked.
"Sorry, now you're talking about Elon Musk, not the DOGE administrator?" Gardner replied.
Chuang then launched into a lengthy response, becoming clearly frustrated.
"The plaintiffs are saying Musk was the head of DOGE. You're saying he wasn't, but we can't tell you who was, which admittedly is highly suspicious ... I'm not saying that you're not being candid, but the whole operation raises questions," the judge said.
The judge continued, "There's an affidavit saying he's a senior advisor of the president. But there's a 'strange disconnect' where he has referred to himself in public as affiliated with DOGE and not as a senior adviser to the president — until recently, after these lawsuits were filed. Having some backup documentation for that would seem to be useful."
Chuang didn't rule on whether to bar Musk and DOGE staffers from accessing records at the U.S. Agency for International Development or from making decisions about personnel or spending. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are current and former USAID employees and contractors.
