DOGE faces early bumps with lawsuits and leadership upheaval

(NewsNation) — On its first day in office, President Donald Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) faced several lawsuits from groups that said the new non-government entity must adhere to the same transparency as federal agencies.

The suits were filed by progressive consumer watchdog Public Citizenthe American Public Health Association and National Security Advisorsa public interest law firm.

The groups argue that DOGE should be considered a federal advisory committee that falls under the rules of the Federal Advisory Committee Act of 1972.

The three cases were among the first lawsuits filed against the new Trump administration after the president took the oath of office at the Capitol.

What is DOGE?

Trump picked Musk and Ramaswamy to jointly lead DOGE shortly after his re-election last year, promising to cut federal spending and cut federal jobs the non-government task force deems unnecessary.

Since then, Ramaswamy left DOGE, leaving the agency in the hands of tech tycoon Musk.

While Ramaswamy also plans to run for Ohio governor in two years, according to some reports, his departure may be linked to differences with the congressional leaders working at DOGE.

The two had promised to cut $2 trillion in government spending and restructure federal agencies.

What do the lawsuits say?

Three separate lawsuits argue that DOGE should be classified as a federal advisory committee that has rules surrounding them.

The plaintiffs argue that DOGE is covered by FACA, which requires federal advisory committees to meet transparency requirements such as having a charter, a fairly balanced membership and a designated federal officer to call meetings.

“The lawsuit challenges DOGE’s operation without complying with federal transparency laws,” the groups said in a statement.

“DOGE’s stacked membership, far from being fairly balanced, reveals that only one point of view is represented: ‘small government crusaders’ with backgrounds in either the tech industry or Republican politics. This deficiency makes DOGE’s membership unbalanced and unfit for the function it has been directed to perform,” the lawsuit from the National Security Counselors said.

The DOGE management hit back.

“I expect the entrenched bureaucracy and self-interest to fight like hell… I wouldn’t count Elon Musk out,” Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn, who is part of the DOGE congressional leadership, told NewsNation.

Source link