Does Elon Musk and DOGE have the power to close US state agencies? | Donald Trump News

On By Littum

The Department of Government Efficiency-Trump-Administration’s cost-saving agency, led by billionaire business owner Elon Musk-Har set hundreds of federal officials on leave, gained access to sensitive federal payment systems and led to the federal agents closing.

Pushback against DOGE, as it is called, has been quick as legislators and the public ask if Musk can reduce, restructure or eliminate agencies authorized and funded by Congress.

Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, for New York, wrote on February 3rd: “A non -selected shadow government performs a hostile takeover of the federal government. DOGE is not a real government agency. DOGE has no authority to make expenditure decisions. DOGE has no authority to close programs or ignore federal law. Dog’s behavior cannot be allowed to stand. “

At a news conference the following day, Schumer said the idea that Doge is acting illegally cannot be discussed. It is an undisputable fact. “

Officially, courts will decide whether it is undeniable or not.

Because it has not happened yet, we asked the White House what constitutional or statutory authority DODE operates under. The White House quoted in a statement neither specific laws nor constitutional provisions. It said, “Those who carry this mission with Elon Musk do so in full accordance with federal law, appropriate security preparations and as employees of the relevant agencies, not as external advisers or units.”

Here we take a closer look at Schumer’s statements about DOGE and its status and authority within the government of the United States.

Legal researchers and government operations experts said they only look a little in the constitution or the US law to support the executive branch that acts alone to overthrow what Congress has approved and funded.

“This is a question that has a very clear answer: Congress and Congress alone have the authority to adopt appropriations,” said Michael Gerhardt, a professor of the University of North Carolina. “The president does not have unilateral authority to close an expense or instruments financed by Congress, without the permission of Congress.”

DOGE
A woman protests against Elon Musk outside the US Agency of International Development (USAID) Building after Billionaire Musk, heading for US President Donald Trump’s Run, DC, February 3rd 2025 (File: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

Is DOGE a real government agency?

DOGE is not a conventional government agency; These are typically created by Congress with a mission and a fixed financing amount. In contrast, Doge’s budget and staff are pretty much a mystery.

The Trump administration created it by executive order on January 20, 2025.

The order said that an administrator reporting to the staff chief of the White House would be the leader of DOGE and that its operations would cease on July 4, 2026. Agency.

The White House has said that Musk is a “special employee of the government”, a decades old government category for one who works 130 days or fewer over a year. Special government employees may be paid or unpaid – it is unclear which of these categories Musk is falling into – and must provide financial information and comply with ethical rules, including not involving themselves in issues where they have financial interests (Musk’s companies, Including SpaceX and Tesla, have received at least $ 15.4 billion.

Does Doge have authority to make expenditure decisions?

Legal experts we interviewed were questionable that it is legal for DOGE to cut down on the expenses already set aside by Congress and signed by the president.

An important obstacle to DODE is the Constitution, specifically Article 1, which establishes Congress and allows the legislative branch to appropriate funding. “No money must be deducted from the Treasury, but as a result of appropriations made by law,” says it.

In addition to this, Congress has adopted and presidents have signed laws to confirm this principle. ACT from the 1974 Impoundment Control created a detailed process for what a president could and could not do when he disagreed with whether they should spend money that Congress had approved.

This law says that if the executive branch wants to cancel the expenses, it must suggest a cut, known as a “resolution”. Expenses cannot be paused for more than 45 days as legislators are considering the cuts.

There are “major problems in changing funds that have been approved and granted if they do not follow the law of control,” said Bill Hoagland, senior vice president of the Bipartisan Policy Center and previously a long -term Republican Senate Help.

The Supreme Court in recent years has blocked the executive branch from exceeding his congregation’s authorized authority, such as with President Joe Bid’s bid to forgive student loan debt.

“If Congress told a department or agency they could regulate,” said Stetson University Law Professor Louis J Virelli III. “If Congress didn’t, they can’t.”

The Office of Management and Budget and Budget Department typically evaluates after a procedure, President John F Kennedy, who was appointed in a performing order, Steven Smith, a political scientist from Arizona State University. “This process gives a review of the proposed executive orders that include their constitutionality and legality,” Smith said. But given the speed of Trump’s order of DOGE that was signed the day he was sworn in, and staff flux in the federal government, Smith said he has seen no sign that Trump has followed this long -time, predominantly process.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has claimed both the right to raise funds – that is, refusing to spend congressional -approved money – and its reverse, legal experts said. By offering buyouts to millions of federal employees, with those who agree to get paid until September 30, the administration has promised to pay money that Congress has not yet granted. The current federal funding runs out on March 14, but to promise a payment beyond that, “when there is no legal basis, it is illegal,” Virelli said.

Does Doge have authority to close programs or ignore federal law?

Legal experts also believe that the same legal justification – the constitution’s allocation of the purse of the purse to Congress and subsequent laws – would prevent DODE from shutting entire agencies.

According to existing laws, such as the law of decomposition control, “there are certain cases where a president can stop certain payments for special reasons or for short periods,” said Frank O Bowman III, a professor of the University of Missouri Law. “But it is quite clear that a president cannot constitutionally, unilaterally closed an entire congressing agency and all its programs.” Trump and his appointed are working to remove the US Agency for International Development (USAID )’s independent status by folding the agency into the state department and promised to dismiss most of his employees, and Trump promised during his campaign to shoot the education department.

“The least creepy version of what the administration is doing is,” let’s play this out in the courts and see if we can get approval through the courts. “” Virelli said. “If this ends up as a number of litigation where the administration tries to expand their powers and the court sorts out completely, it is not outside our constitutional democracy.”

But Musk and DOGE may have moved so fast that the legal branch would have a hard time stopping them even if the judges would, legal experts said.

The administration could win if lower courts “don’t make decisions fast enough,” said Chris Edelson, an American university assistant in the government. It can also win if the judges decide to disregard prolonged precedent, he said. “A Supreme Court who says presidents are immune to criminal prosecution for ‘official acts'” – as the current court did in 2024 – “may also decide that presidents do not have to comply with other parts of the constitution.”

Can Congress stop DODE if it wants to? And will it?

Institutionally, Congress has the most to lose, experts agree. But it is not helpless: Congress could pass a law that blocks DOGE or at least some of its practice.

Under President Richard Nixon’s Watergate scandal as the Supreme Court moved strongly to limit the presidential power, “Congress supported the court by moving to build him,” Edelson said. “I see no evidence that the Congress Republican majorities do.”

E.g. Acknowledged Senator Thom Tillis, North Carolina that some of Musk’s actions could be constitutional, but “no one should stomach over it,” he told the news outlet Notus. “It runs for the constitution in the most stringent sense … But it is not uncommon for presidents to flex a little on where they can use and where they can stop using.”

David M Driesen, a professor of Syracuse University Law, said Tillis’ comparison is defective.

“There is no precedent for detention of money everywhere due to broad political disagreement with the law,” said Driesen. “It is a frontal attack on the legislative authority of Congress.”

If legislators do not challenge DOGE, by passing new laws or going to court, they risk losing the powers that Congress has had for two and a half centuries. Driesen and other legal experts said that judges may be considering the lack of congregation when deciding on this matter.

“It should have nothing to do at all as a matter of constitutional law,” said Bowman, the law professor. “But I suspect that for some judges, the silence may carry some weight.”