(AFP) – The largest union of US federal government employees filed suit on Monday against President Donald Trump over his plans to create a cost-cutting “Department of Government Efficiency” headed by billionaire Elon Musk. The suit was filed in a district court in Washington by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and non-profit Public Citizen just minutes after Trump was sworn in as the 47th US president.
Trump has tasked Musk, the world’s richest man, with slashing billions of dollars in federal government spending. Trump and Musk have claimed that $2 trillion could potentially be saved, but most experts believe that is not realistic without deep cuts to crucial social services or benefits.
In its suit, the AFGE, which represents some 800,000 federal workers, said it wanted to ensure that DOGE complies with the requirements for federal advisory committees. “The advice and guidance that Mr. Trump has charged DOGE with producing is sweeping and consequential,” the complaint said. “DOGE — the members of which currently do not represent the interests of everyday Americans — will be recommending cuts to government agencies and programs that protect health, benefits, consumer finance, and product safety,” it added.
The AFGE said federal regulations authorize an administration “to establish and use commissions or task forces to obtain advice and recommendations from the private sector on a variety of topics.” But the regulations impose “various guardrails to prevent them from turning into vehicles for advancing private interests in the federal decision-making process,” it said. “Those guardrails include the requirements that advisory committee have a fair balance in viewpoints represented, that they do not meet in secret, and that their records and work product be made available for public inspection.”
The AFGE urged the court to prevent DOGE from acting as an advisory committee until it complies with federal regulations. In addition to the AFGE, several other watchdog and public interest groups filed suit against Trump over DOGE on Monday. Trump tapped billionaire entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy to head DOGE alongside Musk, but Ramaswamy has reportedly decided to step aside and run instead for governor of the midwestern state of Ohio.
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