Overview
- U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang denied the government’s bid for a protective order and ordered depositions of Elon Musk, former acting USAID leader Peter Marocco, and State Department official Jeremy Lewin.
- The court said plaintiffs showed a specific need for first-hand testimony after defendants failed to produce documents identifying decision-makers or point to lower-ranking witnesses present for key actions.
- Chuang found it unclear that Musk or the others qualify for special protections for high-ranking officials, noting informal or acting roles and that Musk is no longer in government service.
- The Justice Department argued a deposition would intrude on White House functions, but the judge said any such concerns could be handled through limits on questioning rather than blocking testimony entirely.
- The lawsuit by current and former USAID employees alleges Appointments Clause and separation-of-powers violations tied to dismantling the agency, which previously managed about $43 billion for work in roughly 130 countries, with Lancet researchers warning of millions of additional deaths by 2030 from the cuts.