President Trump's new Department of Government Efficiency is already in danger of being shut down due to a lawsuit filed almost immediately after he took office.
The DOGE has been one of Trump's most touted plans as he tapped Tesla billionaire supporter Elon Musk to lead the newly created agency to help reduce waste within the federal government.
The order establishing it was one of dozens of executive orders the president signed with the stroke of a pen on his first day in the White House.
But minutes after Trump was sworn in, government watchdog groups filed a lawsuit against DOGE, threatening its creation.
They claim that DOGE, despite its name, is not actually a government agency.
The lawsuit alleges that DOGE violates the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) because its members “do not hold balanced views, meetings are held in secret, and documents and work are unavailable to the public.”
“DOGE's mission to advise OMB and the White House on reducing regulations and cutting spending jeopardizes important consumer safeguards and public protections,” said Lisa Gilbert, co-chair of Public Citizen.
DOGE is led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who suddenly resigned this week to run for governor of Ohio amid rumors of a feud with X's CEO.
He flees before DOGE even leaves, amid rumors that the MAGA movement wants to unseat him.
Ramaswamy, 39, a biotech entrepreneur who ran against Donald Trump in the Republican primaries before withdrawing and endorsing him, has reportedly set his sights on running for governor of Ohio in 2026.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday for the Department of Government Efficiency. He has already been charged with DOGE
In fact, an officer familiar with Ramaswamy's thinking told DailyMail.com last week that he planned to deliver at DOGE and announce a bid for governor soon after.
However, recent weeks have suggested that Ramaswamy and Musk – named co-chairs of DOGE – are unlikely to be a good mix, after a social media post Ramaswamy made in support of Musk's position on migrant visas sparked a huge conservative backlash.
Despite Ramaswamy posting a photo of Musk shaking hands on X Monday and calling it “a new dawn,” it appears that Musk was part of the effort 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 ended up burning Elon. Everybody wants him out of Mar-a-Lago, out of DC.”
The new lawsuit against DOGE was filed by Public Citizen, the organization Sate Democracy Defenders Fund and the American Federation of Government Employees union.
Despite Ramaswamy posting a photo of Musk shaking hands on X Monday and calling it “a new dawn,” it appears Musk was part of the effort to get him out of DOGE
DOGE is led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy
It's particularly problematic that Musk holds an appointed government position while simultaneously holding a top job in the private sector.
Potential conflicts of interest are then identified by Musk and Ramaswamy, who pose a 'threat' to the Americans because of their 'extremist views'.
'This is not about cutting redundant staff; this is about billionaires eliminating important programs that American citizens across the country rely on every 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 contacted the Trump transition team with their concerns and requested representation on the advisory group, but their request was denied.
They filed their lawsuit in the District of Columbia, asking the district court to stop the government from using DOGE as an advisory committee and to ban them from meeting and advising Trump and OMB.
However, the lawsuit filed may have had a head start on what DOGE will actually do, 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 on the move as he plans to make a bid for Ohio governor soon, DailyMail.com has learned
According to the executive order signed by the President on Monday, it appears that DOGE will function not so much as an advisory committee, but within the government.
It says that DOGE is in fact the public name of the US Digital Service (USDS), a technology agency founded under President Obama, in US DOGE Service.
The decision states that there will be a temporary DOGE organization that will last 18 months and end on July 4, 2026.
The wording of the order also suggests that it is less about government waste, as Trump and his allies have said publicly, 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 government efficiency and productivity,” the order reads.
On Monday evening, Trump said while signing the order that Musk would not have an office in the West Wing, but indicated that DOGE would hire 20 employees to carry out his efforts.
