Since Donald Trump took office, his administration has found itself entangled in legal disputes on four separate occasions, all tied to Elon Musk.
Within just a couple of days of Trump’s presidency, four lawsuits have already emerged…
Elon Musk now holds the intriguing role of leading the Department of Government Efficiency or DOGE, humorously echoing the meme cryptocurrency. This position was created to help the Trump administration identify and eliminate wastage in government spending.
Musk, renowned for his unique public appearances, greeted the crowd twice with his right hand during the inauguration festivities. He had earlier made bold claims, asserting that he could potentially reduce the federal budget by an astonishing $2 trillion. He later tempered this ambition to $1 trillion, with the pragmatic approach of “aiming for two, you could probably get one.”
Initially appointed alongside Vivek Ramaswamy to run the newly established Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Musk found himself in sole command when Ramaswamy stepped down just hours post-inauguration.
Since its inception, DOGE has been quickly embroiled in legal quandaries, facing multiple lawsuits. These problems are further tangled by Trump’s executive order that integrated DOGE within the U.S. government structure, thus excluding it from Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) obligations.
A fourth lawsuit filed by the Center for Biological Diversity stands apart, seeking transparency. It requests public documents to elucidate the communications between DOGE representatives and the White House starting from the transition phase in November.
Reports from The Washington Post highlighted the legal obstacles confronted by DOGE right from its early days.
The first lawsuit was launched by National Security Counselors, asserting that DOGE fulfills the criteria for a federal advisory entity and accordingly must operate under FACA’s transparency mandates.
Similarly, three additional suits, spearheaded by groups such as Public Citizen, the State Democracy Defenders Fund, the American Federation of Government Employees, Democracy Forward, and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, make a parallel argument. They collectively argue that DOGE’s advisory function necessitates compliance with FACA regulations.
