The left isn’t wasting any time challenging the new Trump administration. While President Trump was signing the first executive orders taking control of the executive branch of the United States, the first lawsuits were filed in a federal court in Washington, this time challenging the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE.)
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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.
This was inevitable. Winning the election put Donald Trump back in the White House, but it won’t stop the left from trying to throw every stumbling block in his way that they can manage. And, while the president is entitled to his advisors, the assertion seems to be that he is “advancing private interests” by eliminating government waste, which seems like something of a stretch.
One of the suits, filed by Public Citizen, the State Democracy Defenders Fund and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, contends DOGE has breached FACA, which the lawsuit says is intended to prevent such efforts from “turning into vehicles for advancing private interests in the federal decision-making process.”
The other cases were brought by National Security Counselors and Democracy Forward and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
A fourth lawsuit filed Monday by the Center for Biological Diversity seeks all records from the Office of Management and Budget relating to DOGE.
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President Trump has, of course, not commented on this first round of legal challenges, but I think we can forgive him for that; he has bigger things on his mind at the moment than petty, annoying nuisance lawsuits. And, we must note that even if a pliant judge agrees with the plaintiffs and orders the DOGE to cease and desist, that doesn’t mean that the efforts of the Trump administration to identify and eliminate government waste have to end.
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President Trump’s allies are rallying, as well. At least one state Attorney General, Missouri’s Andrew Bailey, is already fighting back.
🚨BREAKING: Radical leftists are moving to dismantle DOGE.
I will file briefs in court to defend President Trump’s constitutional authority to run the executive branch. https://t.co/cCbcHSsZZ9
— Attorney General Andrew Bailey (@AGAndrewBailey) January 20, 2025
It’s a safe bet that he won’t be the last.
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