The inauguration of President Donald Trump Monday has been quickly met by legal challenges by his opponents.
According to Politico, at least three separate lawsuits were filed against the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), headed by billionaire Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, within minutes of Trump taking the oath of office.
The lawsuits, filed in federal court in Washington D.C., allege the newly minted department is in violation of the Federal Advisory Committee Act, because private individuals, such as Musk, have been given government decision-making roles without public access.
Originally, DOGE was set to be run by Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, however, Ramaswamy has since withdrawn and now plans to run for the governor seat in Ohio. The department was to cut unnecessary government spending, including government workers.
Filed by Public Citizen, the State Democracy Defenders Fund and the American Federation of Government Employees, the lawsuit points out only agencies established and confirmed through the proper process can become a department of the government.
“DOGE is not and was never intended to be a department of the United States government,” the lawsuit reads, “Congressionally established agencies such as the Department of Defense or the Department of Health and Human Services are led by federal officers who have been confirmed by the Senate under the constitutionally required process.”
The Washington Post reported Trump’s marathon signing of over 100 executive orders during his inauguration celebration, may also be met with legal resistance. This includes ending birthright citizenship, which is embedded in the U.S. Constitution, and renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.
Matthew Dallek, a political historian at George Washington University, told WaPo Trump’s executive orders were signed to send a message that he plans on delivering on his campaign promises.
“It’s kind of an executive-order shock-and-awe campaign,” Dallek told WP, “The shock and awe is to send a message to his critics and most importantly to his voters, his supporters, that he’s back, and that he is going to try to deliver on his campaign promises, and he’s going to do it aggressively.”
