Donald Trump’s second presidential term hasn’t kicked off on a good note as he has been slammed with a new lawsuit. The 47th President of the United States hadn’t even finished his highly controversial inauguration speech when he was sued by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the nonprofit watchdog Public Citizen, and the left-leaning nonprofit State Democracy Defenders Fund.
Elon Musk, his ally in recent times, also name-dropped in the lawsuit, in which the aforementioned agencies are suing Donald Trump over the foundation and operation of a new federal body- the Department of Government Efficiency or DOGE.
NEW: Government watchdog groups, led by Public Citizen, have sued the Trump admin to ensure that DOGE complies with federal transparency laws.
The suit alleges that Trump and his Office of Management and Budget are violating the Federal Advisory Committee Act “because DOGE’s…
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) January 20, 2025
The formation of DOGE, however, doesn’t come as a surprise as ever since Elon Musk started campaigning for Donald Trump, it was assumed that Trump would pay back the gesture by giving the wealthiest man in the world a seat in The White House.
As expected, when Donald Trump won the 2024 elections in November last year, he announced his plans to form DOGE with Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. The new federal body is to act like an audit branch, and with it, the trio of Trump, Vivek, and Musk plan to cut “trillions” off the “government waste.”
While announcing his plans to form DOGE, Donald Trump said,” Together, these two extraordinary Americans will pave the way for my administration to dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal agencies.”
However, the lawsuit claims that DOGE is a federal advisory body and, therefore, must follow the rules of engagement for such committees. DOGE must have a balanced membership from both parties with an SOP that must mandatorily be followed. The lawsuit also claims that DOGE needs to have public meetings, file a charter, and have a clear agenda to be released to the public. None of these protocols have been followed. Therefore, the federal committee is claimed to be biased and unlawful.
President Trump officially announced the creation of DOGE.
Where should Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy start? pic.twitter.com/oLDDuVHIts
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) January 21, 2025
The lawsuit demands Ramaswamy and Musk be barred from the committee as they have heavily influenced the structure and the working of a public committee that must not have any external or political influence. Reportedly, the plaintiffs also want the DOGE to be barred from functioning until the Federal Advisory Committee Act is followed.
The lawsuit further claims that DOGE is currently acting like a federal advisory body since the public and their opinion are not involved.
The creation of DOGE to cut down on the federal budget is one of the many major controversial plans Donald Trump has for his second term. During his inauguration speech, Trump shared some of his future goals, such as closing down the border, renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, cutting down aid to different countries, and taking over the Panama Canal.
