NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – New Mexico is leading 14 states so far in federal legal action against DOGE and Elon Musk for “unlawful assertion of power.” “With every passing day, there was in our view, a new violation,” said Raúl Torrez, New Mexico Attorney General.
That prompted him and 13 other other attorneys general so far to take legal action against DOGE and Musk. He said this action enables the courts to evaluate just how much authority Musk can have. “It is a novel question for the courts to consider in this context. We are in uncharted territories with the disregard that has been on display over the last several weeks,” said Torrez.
Recently, Musk, who was granted access to sensitive government data, played a role in cutting the federal workforce and pushed to eliminate entire agencies like the federal Department of Education. “The people voted for major government reform, and that’s what people are gonna get. They’re gonna get what they voted for,” said Musk, head of DOGE, at a news conference this week in the Oval Office.
But Torrez argued that President Trump violated the appointments clause of the U.S. Constitution by creating a new federal department without congressional approval and by granting Musk over federal agencies without the consent of the Senate.
“Our constitutional order was founded in part to guard against the accumulation of state power in the hands of a single individual,” said Torrez. “And while that construction was first focused on the abuse of power of an 18th-century monarch, it is no less dangerous in the hands of a 21st-century tech tycoon.”
In their lawsuit, the plaintiffs are asking the courts to invalidate Musk’s work and bar him from issuing any orders to anyone in the executive branch outside of DOGE.
“The founders of this country would be outraged that, 250 years after our nation overthrew a king, the people of this country—many of whom have fought and died to protect our freedoms—are now subject to the whims of a single unelected billionaire,” said Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes.
“Move fast and breaking things may work in Silicon Valley for a tech company, but it’s not good governance and it’s unconstitutional,” said Torrez. “We take this action not as members of a political party but as the chief legal officers of our state who have sworn to uphold and protect the constitution.”
The Attorneys General joining New Mexico in this lawsuit represent the states of Arizona, Michigan, California, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, Vermont, Rhode Island, Hawaii, Washington and Oregon.
Read: Read More