Elon Musk demanded on Wednesday that a Delaware judge recuse herself from Tesla lawsuits, arguing she recently demonstrated her bias against him when she liked an anti-Musk LinkedIn post. 

Musk’s lawyers filed a motion for recusal in Delaware’s Court of Chancery, which included a screenshot of Judge Kathaleen McCormick liking the social media post celebrating Musk’s $2 billion court loss in a separate case. The attorneys noted that the incident did «not exist in a vacuum.»

The lawyers were referring to McCormick previously presiding over high-stakes cases involving Musk and the tech billionaire accusing the judge of bias stretching back years. The ongoing friction with the judge follows hostility Musk has faced from the left in recent years, most notably when he became a close ally of President Donald Trump in 2024 and through the early months of the administration. 

Musk’s lawyers said McCormick appeared to cheer on a lawyer on LinkedIn who made a post mocking Musk’s legal defeat in a California fraud case. McCormick is currently presiding over separate derivative litigation brought by Tesla shareholders who have alleged Musk harmed the company by overpaying himself and board members. The lawyers said one of McCormick’s staff members also liked another anti-Musk post related to Musk’s pending litigation.

TRUMP NOT INTERESTED IN TALKING TO MUSK: ‘ELON’S TOTALLY LOST IT’

«This post to which the Court reacted and another to which a Court staff member reacted are not simply negative criticism of Mr. Musk and his attorneys, they are inflammatory,» Musk’s lawyers wrote.

The lawyers said that «the very facts underlying the litigation celebrated in the posts are squarely at issue in the consolidated and coordinated actions.»

McCormick later deactivated her LinkedIn account, and in a letter to attorneys in the case she denied supporting the anti-Musk post.

«I either did not click the ‘support’ icon at all, or I did so accidentally,» McCormick wrote. «I do not believe that I did it accidentally.»

screenshot of LinkedIn post (Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware )

McCormick in 2022 presided over a separate, high-profile lawsuit brought by Twitter, now called X, against Musk to force him to complete his $44 billion acquisition of the company after Musk attempted to back out over allegations the company misled him about the number of bots on the platform. Musk ended up moving forward with the acquisition and later testified that he felt forced to because he believed McCormick was biased against him.

«We were unlikely to win the [Twitter] case in Delaware because the judge was extremely biased against me,» Musk said this month, according to the recusal motion. «This was, in fact, the same judge that struck my Tesla option grant that was subsequently overturned by the Delaware Supreme Court. So it’s accurate to say she was, that judge was not favorably inclined to me. Not objective.»

In another lawsuit, McCormick in 2024 twice voided a multibillion-dollar pay package for Musk and the Tesla board, saying they had breached their fiduciary duties and that Musk effectively controlled the board. The Delaware Supreme Court reinstated the pay package but upheld McCormick’s underlying findings.

Musk responded that year to an X post from a conservative influencer about McCormick, writing «absolute corruption» after the influencer noted that she had previously worked at a Delaware law firm that donated to former President Joe Biden.

Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk has indicated he may support Republican candidates in the upcoming midterm elections. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

Musk’s grievances with McCormick began amid a national push against the tech billionaire as he began weighing in on politics, speaking out against the Democrat Party ahead of the 2022 midterms and endorsing Trump in the 2024 election. 

He became the head of Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency in 2025, serving in the role as a special government employee as he sought to identify government overspending and fraud, which raised his status as a political target by the left. Democrat lawmakers condemned Musk’s DOGE efforts in protests, while Tesla locations were targeted by rioters last year as critics characterized Musk as an unelected billionaire working in the administration. 

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Trump and Musk had a public falling out last spring, when Musk openly opposed the president’s signature budget bill, known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The pair have since been spotted chatting at various public events. 

House Democrats largely voted in lockstep to continue the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown Thursday despite growing fallout over air travel nationwide. 

Democrats’ opposition to ending the funding lapse — the second longest in history — comes as lawmakers could leave for recess before striking a deal.

The DHS funding measure still passed the House largely along party lines in a vote of 218-206. It was the third time House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has held a vote on the legislation since the funding lapse began Feb. 14.

The measure, sponsored by Rep. Juan Ciscomani, R-Ariz., would fund the department through the end of September. Reps. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, Jared Golden, D-Maine, Marie Gluesenkamp-Perez, D-Wash., and Don Davis, D-N.C., were the only Democrats to vote «yes» after previously supporting the DHS funding measure earlier in March.

SEE IT: TRAVELERS SOUND OFF AS ICE AGENTS DEPLOYED TO AIRPORTS AS SHUTDOWN DRAGS PAST 40 DAYS

Still, the measure is likely dead on arrival in the Senate, where both parties continue to negotiate an end to the stalemate.

Democrats have remained dug in against providing funding to DHS subagencies executing President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Top Democratic leaders continue to demand sweeping reforms — including requiring the use of judicial warrants — that Republicans have charged could impede law enforcement efforts.

The funding standoff has caused major travel disruptions nationwide as a shortage of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents has resulted in hours-long wait times at security checkpoints. More than 50,000 TSA personnel are set to miss their second full paycheck on Friday, leading to nearly 500 agents quitting and a surge in callouts.

«They’re using TSA agents, Coast Guardsmen and other DHS employees as pawns in their political game,» Republican Study Committee chairman August Pfluger, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital. «They’re just demonstrating a real willingness to hold hostage the American public.»

Members of the conservative RSC held a news conference Tuesday at Washington’s Reagan National Airport to spotlight the financial difficulties TSA officers are facing. Acting Deputy Administrator Adam Stahl said some personnel, many of whom live paycheck to paycheck, are sleeping in their cars and selling blood plasma to make ends meet.

«The Democrats know their plan is not working,» Rep. Mark Alford, R-Mo., told reporters. «They know Americans are hurting, and they are still doing it anyway.»

A Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agent looks at passengers queue to go through security at New York’s LaGuardia airport on March 22, 2026. (Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images)

FLASHBACK: JEFFRIES CALLED FAILING TO FULLY FUND DHS AN ‘ABDICATION OF RESPONSIBILITY’

House Democrats, however, have sought to blame Republicans for the funding stalemate and have signaled reluctance to walk away from their ICE reform demands. 

«We want ICE to be compelled to conduct itself like every other law enforcement agency in the country,» Jeffries told reporters on Wednesday. «Immigration enforcement should be fair, just, and humane—that’s not what’s happening right now. ICE is out of control, and taxpayer dollars are being used in unacceptable ways.»

Republicans have fired back that it is essential to fund ICE, invoking the murder of 18-year-old Sheridan Gorman, who was killed by a Venezuelan illegal immigrant in Chicago last week. The foreign national, Jose Medina-Medina, was taken into custody by federal law enforcement in May 2023 but released into the United States under the Biden administration.

Sheridan Gorman (left), an 18-year-old college student, was killed in an alleged attack by a Venezuelan illegal. Speaker Mike Johnson (right), R-La., decried the murder, saying it was allowed by Democratic sanctuary policies. (Sheridan G. Gorman via Instagram; Getty Images)

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«Democrats in the House are demanding a DHS bill that would eliminate funding for the exact agencies that are tasked with preventing a tragedy like this,» House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said Wednesday during a House GOP leadership press conference. «They tell you what they prioritize. And it is the welfare of criminal illegal aliens over American citizens. We ought to believe what they say, the words in action.»

When asked about Gorman’s murder by an illegal immigrant Wednesday, Jeffries told Fox News he would look into the case without commenting further.