Dept. of Justice wants to drop lawsuit against Elon Musk's SpaceX

BROWNSVILLE, Texas - The Department of Justice has filed paperwork to dismiss a lawsuit against Elon Musk's SpaceX for engaging in employment discrimination.

What we know:

The agency on Thursday filed a request to end the current pause in proceedings in the case in order to allow them to file a notice of dismissal.

The dismissal would be with prejudice, meaning the case could not be tried again.

On Friday, Judge Rolando Olvera in the Southern District of Texas approved the request, giving the Department of Justice 30 days to file the dismissal.

The backstory:

The Justice Department sued SpaceX in 2023, alleging the company discriminated against hiring those seeking asylum and refugees in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

The lawsuit claimed that from 2018 until 2022 the company claimed they could only hire U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents because of "export control laws."

Export control laws are laws that are intended to protect national security and promote foreign policy.

The federal government said those granted asylum and refugees do not require extra oversight and can be hired and access export-controlled information the same as citizens and permanent residents.

What they're saying:

"Asylees and refugees are migrants to the United States who have fled persecution," the Department of Justice said when the lawsuit was originally filed. "To obtain their status, they undergo thorough vetting by the United States government. Under the INA, employers cannot discriminate against them in hiring, unless a law, regulation, executive order or government contract requires the employer to do so. In this instance, no law, regulation, executive order or government contract required or permitted SpaceX to engage in the widespread discrimination against asylees or refugees that the department’s investigation found, as explained in the complaint."

SpaceX has previously denied wrongdoing, saying in a November 2023 filing that export laws impose "strict limitations on who it can employ."

"SpaceX follows strict policies and procedures to both ensure compliance with all export control laws and regulations and also prevent any unlawful discrimination," the company said.

Musk went to social media platform X after the judge signed the order.

"The Biden administration launched a massive multi-year lawsuit against SpaceX for not hiring asylum seekers, despite the fact that SpaceX is legally BARRED from hiring non-permanent residents under ITAR, because rockets are an advanced weapons technology," Musk said. "In other words, it was both illegal to hire asylum seekers and illegal not to hire asylum seekers!! An insane case of lawfare against SpaceX."