Musk Has Left the White House. What Does That Mean for DOGE?

After spending around $290 million to help get President Donald Trump elected, billionaire Elon Musk is leaving the White House. But the numerous lawsuits he racked up for himself over the last 130 days may not be going anywhere.

“As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President [Trump] for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending,” Musk said last week in announcing his departure.

“The [DOGE] mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government,” he added.

In his wake, Musk leaves behind a large swathe of damage. DOGE’s dismantling of U.S. foreign aid is causing global destabilization. The changes and widespread layoffs and resignations the faux agency initiated are making several federal agencies slower. And its funding cuts may end up costing more than they save.

As Musk’s chaotic tenure in government comes to a close, numerous legal questions about his role and actions remain unresolved. 

First and foremost, it’s unclear if his position in the Trump administration, which was ill-defined from the beginning, was constitutional. At least three lawsuits contend it was not, and those will press ahead, Bloomberg reported.

So too will several other DOGE-related suits, which may reveal the scope of Musk’s authority within the Trump administration and the full extent of his assault on the federal government.

While Trump and other officials have described him as being in charge of DOGE, the official line from the White House was that Musk was a temporary “Special Government Employee” (SGE), which traditionally have hired for limited purposes, like providing specialized expertise.

In court filings, the Department of Justice (DOJ) argued that Musk had no power to make government decisions and no formal relation to DOGE, which it argued is a presidential advisory body that apparently has no significant authority, either.

However, despite the Trump administration’s claims, Musk has personally taken and received credit for DOGE’s creation and its actions and on several occasions appeared to have considerable power for a SGE.

In February, citing instructions from Trump, Musk ordered “all federal employees” to justify their work in an email or risk their jobs. He personally oversaw sweeping changes to — or outright dismantling of — federal agencies and also directed significant changes to federal funding.

Questions around Musk’s role and how much power he held within the federal government, and DOGE specifically, may be answered as more lawsuits against the faux agency move into discovery and more information about its inner workings are revealed in courts.

Whether Musk retains any influence over DOGE outside of the White House could be revealed in discovery as well. Because though he said his time with the federal government was up, that didn’t sound like the full story at a going-away press conference in the Oval Office Friday.

“Elon’s really not leaving,” Trump said at the conference. “He’s going to be back and forth, I think — I have a feeling. It’s his baby, and I think he’s going to be doing a lot of things.”

After receiving a “Key to the White House” from Trump, Musk said, “The DOGE team is doing an incredible job, they’re going to be continuing to do an incredible job, and I’ll continue to be visiting here and a friend and adviser to the president.”

“We are relentlessly pursuing a trillion dollars in waste and fraud reductions,” Musk added.

Though Musk at least on paper is leaving, many of his prominent deputies are remaining in senior DOGE positions. Those include Antonio Gracias, one of Musk’s long-time allies and investors who ensconced himself at the SSA before transitioning to sifting through federal databases to find evidence of non-citizens voting.

With DOGE continuing, so too are 20 different lawsuits against it. Many of the lawsuits seek public access into the internal workings of DOGE through Freedom of Information Act requests, while several others challenge its actions, like accessing sensitive private information held by federal agencies or attempting to cut the federal workforce.

At least three lawsuits accuse Trump of violating the Constitution by installing Musk into a cabinet-level position and allowing him to wield expansive executive power without the Senate’s approval. Those include two suits greenlit by a federal judge just days before Musk announced his departure.

The judge said plaintiffs successfully argued that they should be allowed to sue Musk and DOGE to challenge his role in the government and the faux agency’s effort to slash the government as violations of the Appointments Clause.

It’s unclear if Musk will remain a defendant in those lawsuits and others. The DOJ may ask for the lawsuits to be dismissed, arguing that they are now invalid with Musk’s exit. However, plaintiffs, citing Trump’s recent comments regarding Musk’s continued presence at the White House, could demand evidence that Musk is no longer involved with DOGE’s work. 

Democracy Forward*, which represents several clients in lawsuits against DOGE, said challenges against Musk will continue.

“While he may have left Washington, the havoc he has created has not,” Democracy Forward President Skye Perryman said in a statement. “We will continue to work in court to challenge the lawlessness of his actions.”  

Despite Musk’s formal departure, the White House is remaining coy about who may be leading DOGE. Asked last week about this, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said DOGE leaders are legion.

“The DOGE leaders are each and every member of the president’s cabinet, and the president himself,” Leavitt said.

Russell Vought, Trump’s budget hawk and one of the chief architects of The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, appears to be taking over some of the DOGE effort, according to the Wall Street Journal.

*Democracy Docket Founder Marc Elias is the chair of Democracy Forward’s board.