Trump announces advisory group “DOGE”, attracting instant lawsuits From Reuters

By Raphael Satter, Tim Reid and Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday to create an advisory group called the Department of Government Efficiency aimed at making dramatic cuts to the U.S. government, drawing immediate lawsuits challenging the their operations.

The group – called the Department of Government Efficiency, or “DOGE” – is run by Tesla (NASDAQ: ) CEO Elon Musk and has big goals to eliminate entire federal agencies and cut three-quarters of the jobs of the federal government.

Failed Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy was co-chairman but left to run in the election, Trump spokeswoman Anna Kelly said. A person familiar with Ramaswamy’s plan says he is preparing to run for governor of Ohio.

“To restore competence and effectiveness to our federal government, my administration will establish the new Department of Government Efficiency,” Trump said in his inaugural address on Monday.

The executive order, announced by the White House late Monday, stated the group’s goal to “modernize federal technology and software.”

Trump told reporters that there were plans to hire about 20 individuals to ensure the implementation of the group’s objectives.

However, the committee, despite its name, is not a department and has limited official power to carry out any reorganization, as well as the sweeping cuts proposed by Musk and Ramaswamy.

Government employee unions, watchdog groups and public interest organizations denounced it within minutes of the announcement.

Among them were the National Security Advisers, who claimed that DOGE violated a 1972 law governing federal advisory committees. So did the American Public Health Association, the American Federation of Teachers, and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a watchdog group.

Another watchdog group, Public Citizen, is suing over the DOGE’s uncertain legal status, along with a union representing US government employees.

Tesla and the White House Office of Management and Budget, which is named as a defendant in the lawsuits, did not immediately return messages seeking comment.

Advisory committees on cutting government waste are often announced with great fanfare and typically get little notice.

In 1982, President Ronald Reagan announced a group composed of “outstanding experts from the private sector” to review executive branch spending. He ended up delivering his report 18 months late; most of his recommendations were never implemented.