The legal resistance to President Donald Trump has already begun.
Within minutes of Trump taking the oath of office, at least three lawsuits were filed in federal court in Washington, seeking to shut down Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” until it complies with transparency rules related to governmental advisory entities.
The lawsuits allege that the project Trump announced to target government waste violates the Federal Advisory Committee Act by giving private individuals roles in the government decision-making process without the public access the law requires.
Days after his election in November, Trump pledged to set up DOGE, headed by Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.
In December, Trump announced that Washington election lawyer William McGinley would serve as general counsel for the project.
Legal opposition to President Donald Trump has already started.
At least three lawsuits were filed in federal court in Washington within minutes of Trump taking office, attempting to close Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” until it conforms with federal advisory agency transparency regulations.
According to the lawsuits, Trump’s project to target government waste violates the Federal Advisory Committee Act by allowing private individuals to participate in government decision-making without providing the necessary public access.
Trump promised in the days following his election in November to establish DOGE, which would be led by Musk and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy. The so-called department was brought up by Trump in his inaugural speech, and according to his aides, he intends to formally establish the efficiency-seeking organization later Monday with an executive order.
In order to run for governor of Ohio, Ramaswamy recently withdrew from the project; however, he and Musk had previously proposed ideas like “large scale firing of government employees” that were selected at random from their lists.
Trump appears determined to designate the anti-bureaucracy project as a department despite the fact that the president lacks the power to establish official government departments without a law from Congress.
Public Citizen, the State Democracy Defenders Fund, and the American Federation of Government Employees filed the first lawsuit, arguing that DOGE violated FACA, which is meant to keep such initiatives from “becoming vehicles for advancing private interests in the federal decision-making process.”. “”.
Co-founder of State Democracy Defenders Action Norm Eisen stated, “The fight to protect democracy will be fought not only in the court of law but also in the court of public opinion.”. In addition to having a strong lawsuit against them for partisan exclusion of members, we and our colleagues at Public Citizen and AFGE wanted to emphasize that we were not scared to take action against the incoming president’s autocratic actions. “.”.
Democracy Forward, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics, and National Security Counselors in Washington filed the other cases.
The Center for Biological Diversity filed a fourth lawsuit on Monday, requesting all DOGE-related documents from the Office of Management and Budget.
There are indications that the Trump administration anticipated legal challenges to the cost-cutting initiative. Trump declared in December that William McGinley, a Washington election lawyer, would be the project’s general counsel.
McGinley was the White House counsel that Trump had previously appointed, but he ultimately chose to appoint David Warrington, a lawyer who has defended him in civil lawsuits related to the Capitol shootings on January, to the post. 6, 2021.