The Democrats are still all in a tizzy over the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Ever since President Donald Trump announced the establishment of the advisory committee, folks on the left have been wringing their frantic hands over the issue. In fact, they have been busy filing a barrage of lawsuits aimed at stopping or limiting DOGE’s ability to root out waste, fraud, and corruption in the federal government.
The first four lawsuits against DOGE were filed on January 20, the day President Trump took office, because the anti-DOGE crowd just couldn’t wait to go to war with the administration.
Three of the legal complaints argued that the entity is not a government department but an advisory committee. Thus, the Trump administration allegedly violated the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), which requires advisory committees to adhere to certain hiring and disclosure rules while also being “objective and accessible to the public.”
Under FACA, advisory committees are also required to allow the public to attend their meetings. One of the lawsuits argues that “DOGE is not exempted from FACA’s requirements” and that all of its meetings “must be open to the public.”
Another legal action argues that DOGE is “operating unchecked, without authorization or funding from Congress and is led by unelected billionaires who are not representative of ordinary Americans.”
The Center of Biological Diversity filed the fourth lawsuit, which alleges that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) violated the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The plaintiffs allege that the agency failed to release records related to the presidential transition and interactions with DOGE. The organization claims it “sought under FOIA” to obtain these records but the OMB “to date failed to produce them.”
But the lawfare did not stop there.
On February 3, a coalition of leftist nonprofits sued the Treasury Department for allowing DOGE access to sensitive confidential data. The plaintiffs include the Public Citizen Litigation Group, State Democracy Defenders Fund, the Alliance for Retired Americans, the American Federation of Government Employees, and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).
A federal judge recently refused to impose an injunction on the Trump administration as the plaintiffs requested but indicated she might reverse course if they provide concrete evidence supporting their claims.
Another lawsuit sought to prevent the Trump administration from releasing the names of any FBI employees who were about to be fired as part of the president’s purge of various federal agencies. The legal complaint was filed when news reports suggested that the White House planned to terminate FBI agents who were involved with investigations into President Trump.
The plaintiffs in this suit accused the Justice Department of engaging in “unlawful retaliation” by seeking to release the names of the agents who investigated the January 6, 2021, riot at the United States Capitol building. They contend that publicizing these names could subject the agents to “opprobrium and potential vigilante action.”
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organization (AFL-CIO) and other organizations filed a lawsuit against the Labor Department and DOGE, alleging that the agency is carrying out a “sweeping campaign to access highly-sensitive information systems and dismantle and restructure multiple federal agencies unilaterally.”
The plaintiffs suggest that allowing DOGE access to this information could compromise sensitive data, including “medical and benefits information about all federal workers with worker compensation or Black Lung claims.” It could further reveal “the identities of vulnerable workers who have sought the Department’s protection via wage and hour or occupational safety complaints.” The lawsuit asked the judge to prevent DOGE from accessing this data.
Unfortunately for the plaintiffs, a federal judge declined to block DOGE’s access to the Labor Department’s systems, according to Reuters. U.S. District Judge John Bates explained that “although the Court harbors concerns about defendants’ alleged conduct,” the AFL-CIO did not show it was harmed by its actions.
But wait, there’s more!
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a privacy advocacy group, sued the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and DOGE, alleging that the agency unlawfully granted its team members “broad access to all personnel systems at OPM,” including databases containing the personal information of “tens of millions of federal employees, retirees, contractors, job applicants, and impacted family members.”
Attorneys general from 14 states collaborated on a lawsuit against DOGE alleging that the Trump administration established the entity without congressional approval. The lawsuit claims that Musk “unraveled federal agencies, accessed sensitive data, and caused widespread disruption for state and local governments, federal employees, and the American people,” according to The Associated Press.
Last, but certainly not least, federal workers on Monday filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration after the OMB, at Elon Musk’s behest, sent an email to employees asking them to list their accomplishments over the past week. Those who failed to respond would lose their jobs. The lawsuit seeks to block mass layoffs connected to the email.
The lawsuits note that “No OPM rule, regulation, policy, or program has ever, in United States history, purported to require all federal workers to submit reports to the OPM.”
So, the anti-DOGE crowd has filed ten lawsuits against the agency so far. That’s ten lawsuits in a little over 30 days. This must be some kind of record, right?
This isn’t to say there aren’t valid concerns with how DOGE has operated so far. But this seems to be more than a little excessive. The language used in many of these legal actions reads more like baseless fearmongering than actual complaints about wrongdoing.
The problem is that the nature of these lawsuits betrays a motivation that is more political than anything else. The fact that DOGE was established by the Orange Man What Is Bad™ and is being led by the Tesla Man What Is Also Bad™ seems to be playing more into this than actual concerns over sensitive data and compliance with federal laws.
Many of these legal action likely won’t go anywhere. But it is highly likely that at least some of them will stick. Nevertheless, it is doubtful that the left will be able to effectively curb the DOGE initiative, which means America is about to see even more massive waste, fraud, and corruption being exposed.
Editor's Note: President Trump, Elon Musk, and DOGE are bringing much-needed accountability to our out-of-control government as they take a chainsaw to rampant waste, fraud, and abuse. Help us continue to report on DOGE's accomplishments and expose Big Government's corruption. Join Townhall VIP and use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your membership.