Elon Musk’s DOGE faces first legal challenge within hours of Trump inauguration

Billionaire Elon Musk’s first lawsuit challenging the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was expected to be filed in federal court within hours of Monday. President Trump sworn into office.

The 30-page complaint, obtained by Fox Business ahead of its filing, accuses DOGE of violating certain public disclosure requirements under federal law.

Trump has appointed Musk and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy to lead DOGE to uncover government waste, fraud and abuse and advise the White House on how to cut costs. which was staffed at the offices of his company SpaceX in the United States and had preliminary meetings with representatives of dozens of federal agencies to eliminate the waste.

But DOGE was not created by Congress, and its powers, if any, are unclear. Act (FACA) requires it to have “adequately balanced” representation, record its meetings and open them to the public. It is not clear that DOGE has met these requirements.

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President Trump tapped billionaire Elon Musk to lead a push to cut federal spending. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

“DOGE is not exempt from the requirements of FACA,” the lawsuit states. “All meetings of the DOGE, including those held via electronic media, shall be open to the public.”

Musk and Trump’s transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment from FOX Business.

In the editorial office of the Wall Street Journal. Musk and Ramaswamy wrote that DOGE will be “[u]unlike government commissions or advisory committees,” the lawsuit says, indicating that they do not intend to subject their work to FACA requirements.

Sam Hammond, an economist at the Fund for American Innovation, who supports DOGE’s mission, told the Washington Post that Musk’s efforts are likely exempt from FACA requirements because the agency will mostly implement ideas within the executive branch and the White House.

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Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy make their way to the Capitol Visitor Center to meet with House and Senate Republicans to talk about then-President-elect Trump’s “Department of Government Efficiency” on December 5, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images)

“DOGE is not a federal advisory committee because DOGE doesn’t really exist. DOGE is a branding exercise that is shorthand for the Trump administration’s reform efforts,” Hammond said.

However, National Security Advisers argue that the DOGE meets the legal definition of a federal advisory committee and that the body lacks representation for federal bureaucrats whose jobs could be at risk if the proposed cuts to government agencies are implemented.

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Then-President-elect Trump and Elon Musk watch the launch of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket on Nov. 19, 2024, in Brownsville, Texas. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

The lawsuit names Gerald Lentini, a local elected official in Connecticut and an attorney for the National Security Advisers who applied to join DOGE, and Joshua Ehrlich, who owns a labor law firm that regularly represents federal employees. Ehrlich also applied to work at the DOGE and stated in his application that the body “currently does not have an individual to speak on behalf of government employees and their interests,” it said. request.

Citing reports from the New York Times and the Washington Post, the lawsuit names 17 people associated with DOGE, including: entrepreneurs Marc AndreessenBaris Akis and Antonio Thank you.

“No member of DOGE is a federal employee or represents the perspective of a federal employee,” the lawsuit states.

National Security Advisers Executive Director Kel McClanahan said in a statement that FACA has broad bipartisan support and that every American should support DOGE operating with transparency.

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“This isn’t about sour grapes. It’s not people who sue because they haven’t been picked. It’s people who sue because no one like them has been picked, so no one will be in the room. make sure DOGE understands the critical points they will be providing,” McClanahan said.

“No one is disputing that there are huge costs in the federal government. Our only concern is that DOGE, as it is currently constituted, does not have the expertise to understand how its proposals will backfire if it drives federal workers out. without understanding why they are. Government work is not primarily corporate work, and any proposal made without that perspective is doomed to failure.”