Elon Musk will be deposed along with DOGE staffers over USAID dismantling

Elon Musk, leader of the Trump administration's now-disbanded Department of Government Efficiency, must sit for depositions along with senior State Department officials over their role in dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.

Pointing to findings that Musk had made the decision to break up USAID – one of the world's largest humanitarian programs – despite lacking formal authority or official approval – District Judge Theodore Chuang wrote that there was "no alternative" than for Musk and other officials to provide testimony regarding their decision-making process.

The ruling represents a win for a group of anonymous former USAID employees who are suing Musk, DOGE and State Department officials over the closure.

The depositions mean Musk must give sworn oral testimony over his role in the USAID's destruction.

Following Donald Trump's 2024 election victory, he appointed Musk to lead DOGE, with a brief to advise on gutting federal departments and firing staff deemed a “massive waste.”

At the time, Trump vowed that Musk, along with venture capitalist Vivek Ramaswamy, would "pave the way for my administration to dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies.”

This resulted in the rapid closure of USAID, a 63-year-old institution credited with saving 91 million lives, including 30 million children, in just the past two decades.

Musk described USAID as a “criminal organization” and a “radical-left political psy op”.

DOGE shuttered USAID in July 2025, closing at least 80 per cent of its programmes, and with all remaining activity being absorbed by the State Department.

The agency, which was created by an act of Congress under President John F. Kennedy’s administration in 1961, had a workforce of 10,000, managed some $43bn in appropriations authorized by Congress and assisted approximately 130 countries with disaster relief and economic development in 2023.

The Trump administration's closure of the program immediately drew sharp criticism from around the world, including by former Presidents Barack Obama, who described it as "a travesty and a tragedy,” and George W. Bush, who highlighted the enormous role USAID has played in cutting deaths from HIV and AIDS.

The resulting aid cuts could cause more than 14 million additional deaths by 2030, according to a warning published by researchers in the Lancet medical journal last year.

Last year, Senator Amy Klobuchar called the move “reckless and dangerous.”

“Shutting down USAID is not about efficiency—it’s about undermining America’s global leadership. USAID counters extremism, fights diseases, and creates more markets for U.S. exports,” she said.

In Tuesday's ruling, Judge Chuang said: "The court finds that extraordinary circumstances justify the depositions."

He wrote that this is due to the plaintiffs' "allegation that Musk made certain decisions relating to the shutdown and dismantling of USAID at times when he lacked the authority to do so and at times when there was no duly authorised official who approved or ratified the decisions".

The Independent has contacted the State Department for comment.