Monday, January 20, 2025

Let the lawsuits begin

The courts are going to be very busy these next four years.
In a 30-page complaint obtained by The Washington Post ahead of its filing, the public interest law firm National Security Counselors says that the nongovernmental DOGE panel is breaking a 1972 law that requires advisory committees to the executive branch to follow certain rules on disclosure, hiring and other practices.

Shortly after the election, Trump tapped Musk and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy to lead DOGE in identifying government regulations and spending programs for the White House to cut. The group has already hired dozens of staffers as it works out of the Washington offices of Musk’s company SpaceX, sending emissaries across U.S. agencies to put together a list of recommendations to execute in tandem with the administration and often communicating on the encrypted messaging app Signal.

The lawsuit alleges that DOGE meets the requirements to be considered a “federal advisory committee,” a class of legal entity regulated to ensure the government receives transparent and balanced advice. These groups, known as FACAs, are required by law to have “fairly balanced” representation, keep regular minutes of meetings, allow the public to attend, file a charter with Congress and more — all steps that DOGE does not appear to have taken.

“DOGE is not exempted from FACA’s requirements,” states the lawsuit, written by Kel McClanahan, executive director of National Security Counselors. “All meetings of DOGE, including those conducted through an electronic medium, must be open to the public.”

  WaPo
They'll have to take Ramaswampy's name off the suit because he's allegedly going to quit DOGE and run for governor of Ohio.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE 10:20 am:



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