President Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency is already under threat of being shut down after a lawsuit was filed almost immediately after he took office.
DOGE has been one of Trump’s most touted plans leading up to being sworn-in as he tapped billionaire Elon Musk to help cut government waste.
It was one of dozens of executive orders the president signed with the flourish of his pen on day one.
But minutes after Trump was sworn in, government watchdog groups filed a lawsuit against the agency threatening its existence.
They claim that despite its name, DOGE is not actually a government agency.
The lawsuit argues DOGE violates the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) because members ‘do not have balanced viewpoints, meets are secretly held and records and work are not available to the public.’
‘As constructed, DOGE’s mission to advise OMB and the White House on how to slash regulations and cut expenditures puts at risk important consumer safeguards and public protections,’ said Public Citizen co-president Lisa Gilbert.
DOGE is being led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who suddenly resigned this week to run for governor of Ohio amid rumors of a feud with the X CEO.
He’s bolting before DOGE even takes off amid rumors that the MAGA movement wants him dropped from the position.
Ramaswamy, 39, a biotech entrepreneur who ran against Donald Trump in the Republican primary before dropping out and endorsing him, has reportedly set his sights on running for governor of Ohio in 2026.
President Donald Trump signing an executive order on the Department of Government Efficiency on Monday. He has already been sued over DOGE
In fact, an operative familiar with Ramaswamy’s thinking told DailyMail.com last week that he planned to deliver results at DOGE and announce a bid for governor shortly after.
However, the past few weeks have suggested that Ramaswamy and Musk – named co-chairs of DOGE – were unlikely to be a good mix, after a social media post Ramaswamy made in support of Musk’s position on migrant visas ignited a massive conservative backlash.
Despite Ramaswamy posting a photo to X Monday shaking hands with Musk and calling it ‘a new dawn,’ it appears Musk was part of the push to get him out of DOGE.
A Republican strategist told Politico that Ramaswamy’s rant about the H-1B visa program burned his bridges with Musk.
‘He just burned through the bridges and he finally burned Elon. Everyone wants him out of Mar-a-Lago, out of D.C.’
The new lawsuit against DOGE was filed by Public Citizen, organization Sate Democracy Defenders Fund and the American Federation of Government Employees union.
Despite Ramaswamy posting a photo to X Monday shaking hands with Musk and calling it ‘a new dawn,’ it appears Musk was part of the push to get him out of DOGE
DOGE is being led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy
It particularly takes issue with Musk having an appointed government position while holding a top private sector job at the same time.
It goes on to site potential conflicts of interest poised by Musk and Ramaswamy, who are a ‘threat’ to Americans due to their ‘extremist views.’
‘This is not about cutting redundant staff; this is about billionaires gutting important programs that American citizens across the country rely on every single day without adequate transparency or accountability,’ said Norm Eisen, co-founder of the State Democracy Defends Fund.
Before filing the lawsuit, the groups said they reached out to the Trump transition team with their concerns and asked for representation on the advisory group, but their request was rejected.
They filed their lawsuit in the District of Columbia and asked the district court to block the administration from using DOGE as an advisory committee and prohibit them from meeting and advising the Trump and OMB.
However, the lawsuit filed may have gotten ahead of what DOGE will actually as the language of the order has now been revealed.
Trump tapped Vivek Ramaswamy and billionaire Elon Musk to lead DOGE, but Ramaswamy is already headed out as he is planning to launch a bid for Ohio governor soon, DailyMail.com has learned
According to the executive order signed by the president on Monday, DOGE looks like it would function less as an advisory committee but within the government.
It states that DOGE is actually the public renaming of the U.S. Digital Service (USDS), which was a technology agency created under President Obama, to U.S. DOGE Service.
The order states that within it, there will be a temporary DOGE organization which will last 18 months and end July 4, 2026.
The wording of the order also suggests it is less about government waste as Trump and allies has been publicly saying and more about modernization.
‘This Executive Order establishes the Department of Government Efficiency to implement the President’s DOGE Agenda, by modernizing Federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity,’ the order reads.
On Monday night while signing the order, Trump said that Musk would not have an office in the West Wing, but he indicated DOGE would hire 20 employees to carry out his effort.
