Trump Sued Over Musk Cost-Cutting Effort by US Government Worker Union
(Bloomberg) -- A union representing hundreds of thousands of federal employees sued the Trump administration over its signature cost-cutting effort led by billionaire Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, kicking off a high-stakes legal clash over the new president’s plans to dramatically slash government spending.
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The lawsuit from the American Federation of Government Employees and government watchdog groups Public Citizen and State Democracy Defenders Fund was one of three cases filed as Trump was being sworn in on Monday challenging the “Department of Government Efficiency,” or DOGE. The AFGE case claims that the initiative violates a 1972 US law requiring checks on conflicts of interest, ideological balance and transparency for groups with a direct line to the White House.
The federal employees union wrote in its case that the Federal Advisory Committee Act features “guardrails” to stop groups “from turning into vehicles for advancing private interests in the federal decision-making process and secretly influencing federal officials’ exercise of policymaking discretion.”
The cases mark the beginning of an expected barrage of legal action against Trump’s agenda, which includes efforts to shrink the size and reach of federal agencies.
Two other cases were also filed in federal court in Washington. One was filed by Democracy Forward and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington on behalf of groups representing teachers, veterans and public health and car safety advocates. The third case was brought by the law firm National Security Counselors.
Representatives of Trump’s transition team and the Office of Management and Budget didn’t immediately return a request for comment.
Trump announced the creation of DOGE shortly after his November election win, saying that the group would work with the White House’s Office of Management and Budget to identify cuts and finish its recommendations by July 4, 2026. Shrinking the size and scope of federal agencies has long been a top priority of Republican administrations.
Although its name includes the word “department,” it’s not a federal agency formally created by Congress. Musk and Ramaswamy staffed up and began their review of the US government’s spending ahead of Trump’s inauguration.
The DOGE challengers filing lawsuits on Monday argue the group’s formation and its operations violate the FACA on multiple fronts. They contend that it fails to comply with requirements that members represent “fairly balanced” viewpoints and that there are checks in place to ensure that its recommendations aren’t “inappropriately influenced” by the president who appointed them “or by any special interest.”
Musk poured millions of dollars into Trump’s presidential campaign and emerged as one of his closest advisors. Musk’s SpaceX has billions of dollars in federal contracts and his other ventures are subject to US government oversight, raising questions about whether DOGE’s work would be skewed to favor his business interests.
The lawsuits also allege that Musk and Ramaswamy aren’t making their records publicly accessible or holding open meetings, which is also required by the law.
There are countless advocacy organizations in Washington and around the country that work on policy issues and angle to get the ear of the White House. The advisory committee law applies to groups specifically created or used by the president or agency officials. Musk originally floated a goal of finding $2 trillion in cuts from the federal budget, but has since scaled back those ambitions.
(Updates with details of the cases starting in third paragraph.)
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