Comments made by President Donald Trump on March 4 are being used in a lawsuit challenging the legality of his administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Trump said DOGE, which is not an official government department, is headed by Elon Musk, and he thanked the billionaire businessman for “working very hard.”
“He didn’t need this,” Trump said of Musk. He added that he was sure that lawmakers from the Democratic Party also appreciated Musk’s efforts to slash wasteful government spending but “don’t want to admit that.”
In their filing with the court, the National Security Counselors said Trump’s remark “conclusively demonstrates that expedited discovery is urgently needed” to “ascertain the nature of the Department of Government Efficiency and its relationship to the United States DOGE Service.”
The filing is part of a lawsuit the National Security Counselors filed against Musk, Trump, and others in January.
Lawsuit Argues DOGE Lacks Transparency
According to the lawsuit, FACA dictates that federal advisory committees must be “fairly balanced in terms of the points of view represented and the functions to be performed by the advisory committee.”Such committees should also maintain “fairly balanced” membership, hold public meetings, keep detailed minutes of meetings, and file a charter, it states.
The lawsuit argues that “due to DOGE’s lack of transparency, little is publicly known about its structure or membership,” putting it in violation of the act.
It further contends that DOGE is in violation of FACA because “not a single member of DOGE is a federal employee or represents the perspective of federal employees, despite the evidence that DOGE intends to provide recommendations regarding federal employment practices and ways to reduce the size of the federal workforce.”
Plaintiffs are seeking an injunction barring DOGE from operating until it complies with FACA.
They have also asked the court to declare that DOGE is “not properly constituted” and that any report or recommendation made by the advisory body “does not reflect the views of a lawfully constituted advisory committee.”
Jerald Lentini, an attorney for National Security Counselors and elected official in Manchester, Connecticut, and Joshua Erlich, an employment lawyer, are listed as co-plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
Both men sent in applications to be hired by DOGE but have yet to hear back, according to the lawsuit.
“Plaintiffs conclude that, upon information and belief, neither Lentini nor Erlich, nor anyone similarly situated who would represent the perspectives of federal employees (including national security employees), unions, or accountability and transparency advocates, will be selected for DOGE,” the lawsuit states.
The Epoch Times has contacted the White House for comment.
On Feb. 12, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said: “We have contracts upon contracts that we can send and provide this information to you. Let me be very clear, we are not trying to hide anything. We have been incredibly transparent, and we will continue to be.”
