Schrödinger’s cat, famously, alive and dead at the same time, would have felt at home in the Department of Government Efficiency. Depending on the legal issue at hand, DOGE claims to be both part of and separate from the federal government.

But DOGE is not a thought experiment about theoretical physics. It is an actual party to real cases in federal courts.

And as a party to multiple lawsuits, once litigation about DOGE’s authority has moved past the preliminary stages, a doctrine called “judicial estoppel” will allow judges to force an identity onto the entity. Because of the powerful role that doctrine can play in the ultimate resolution of DOGE’s power, the elements of that doctrine should be an active part of the conversation in the next several weeks.

DOGE’s inconsistent positions are well documented. For example, on the one hand, DOGE claims that it complies with the applicable laws for a federal agency, allowing it to access otherwise confidential electronic information. But at the same........

© The Hill