Federal Judge Theodore Chuang, a Harvard Overseer, Questions Trump’s DOGE at Hearing

Federal judge Theodore D. Chuang ’91 — a member of the Harvard Board of Overseers, the University’s second-highest governing body — showed sympathy on Friday for key claims in a case challenging the constitutionality of the United States Department of Government Efficiency.

The case assigned to Chuang, who was appointed to the Board of Overseers last spring, could position a member of Harvard’s two governing bodies in direct opposition to one of Trump’s flagship efforts.

Chuang said during a Friday hearing that it was “factually inaccurate” for the Trump administration to suggest that billionaire Elon Musk had no role in the initiative, which has laid off federal workers en masse and shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development in its campaign to strip the federal government to its bones.

The three-hour preliminary injunction hearing comes as part of a February lawsuit filed by former USAID employees and contractors against Musk and DOGE. The plaintiffs argued Musk’s leadership of DOGE was unconstitutional because he was not appointed to his post by the president nor confirmed by the Senate.

Justice Department attorney Joshua E. Gardner, a Harvard Law School lecturer, contended at Friday’s hearing that Musk had no involvement in DOGE and that the effort was led by Amy Gleason, a former healthcare executive.

But Chuang, an Obama appointee and a former Crimson Editorial editor, said the “whole operation raises questions.”

Over the course of the hearing, Chuang grew frustrated with Gardner’s inability to answer questions about the organizational hierarchy at DOGE.

“Who was the head of DOGE before Amy Gleason?” Chuang asked Gardner at one point.

“I can’t answer that, I don’t know,” Gardner responded.

“I mean, that seems like a knowable fact, doesn’t it?” Chuang shot back.

The ongoing case could add another layer of tension to the relationship between the White House and Harvard, whose leaders have sharply criticized threats to federal funding but refrained from denouncing Trump by name.

Just hours before the Friday hearing, the Department of Justice’s task force on antisemitism announced that it would visit Harvard and nine other colleges and universities to investigate antisemitism allegations.

And in early February, Trump’s Department of Health and Human Services launched an investigation into the Harvard Medical School over pro-Palestine messaging displayed by students at graduation ceremonies.

In the February lawsuit, more than two dozen former USAID affiliates sought to bar Musk and DOGE-affiliated employees from accessing data relating to USAID or being involved in decisions about the agency’s future.

While Chuang did not issue a ruling on the plaintiffs’ demand on Friday, he said he was “highly suspicious” of Musk’s involvement in DOGE’s work.

Gardner said that he was unable to answer Chuang’s questions because of staffing shortages at the Justice Department, which Chuang said were “part of the problem.”

Chuang’s Friday remarks are not his first rebuke of the Trump administration. On Monday, Chuang temporarily blocked immigration agents from conducting raids in houses of worship used by a group of Quaker, Baptist, and Sikh congregations.

And in 2017, Chuang issued an injunction against Trump’s controversial travel ban that sought to bar citizens of several Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S.

—Staff writer Dhruv T. Patel can be reached at dhruv.patel@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @dhruvtkpatel.

—Staff writer Grace E. Yoon can be reached at grace.yoon@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @graceunkyoon.