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Judge’s Attempt To Unseat Elon Musk and Save USAID Mirrors How Jack Smith Was Removed From Mar-a-Lago Case Against Trump

The special counsel and the world’s richest man have both been rebuked by courts for exercising power they were not authorized to wield.

AP/Jose Luis Magana
Elon Musk wields a chainsaw at the Conservative Political Action Conference, February 20, 2025. AP/Jose Luis Magana
A.R. HOFFMAN
A.R. HOFFMAN

The ruling by a district-level federal judge that the power exercised by the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, violates the Constitution’s Appointments Clause could create complications for the Department of Government Efficiency just as Special Counsel Jack Smith’s case against President Trump was felled for the same transgression.

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A.R. HOFFMAN
A.R. HOFFMAN

Mr. Hoffman is an associate editor of the Sun, where he covers politics and culture. He holds a PhD from Harvard and a law degree from Stanford.

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