Himalaya Harbinger, Rudrapur Bureau
The largest union of US federal government employees sued President Donald Trump on Monday over his plans to form a “Department of Government Efficiency” headed by billionaire Elon Musk. The Republican, who took the oath of office on Monday, has tasked his close associate Musk with cutting billions of dollars in federal government’s spending
American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and non-profit Public Citizen filed the lawsuit minutes after Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th US president.
Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s plan to save $2 trillion has given rise to the fears of job losses as most experts believe that is not realistic without deep cuts to crucial social services or benefits.
The AFGE said it wanted to ensure that DOGE complies with the requirements for federal advisory committees.
The advice and guidance that Mr Trump has charged DOGE with producing is sweeping and consequential. DOGE — the members of which currently do not represent the interests of everyday Americans — will be recommending cuts to government agencies and programs that protect health, benefits, consumer finance, and product safety,” it added.
The AFGE said federal regulations authorize an administration “to establish and use commissions or task forces to obtain advice and recommendations from the private sector on a variety of topics.”
But the regulations impose “various guardrails to prevent them from turning into vehicles for advancing private interests in the federal decision-making process,” it said
Those guardrails include the requirements that advisory committees have a fair balance in viewpoints represented, that they do not meet in secret, and that their records and work product be made available for public inspection.”
The AFGE urged the court to prevent DOGE from acting as an advisory committee until it complies with federal regulations.
Elon Musk, the richest man on the planet, has emerged as the closest ally of Donald Trump after he backed the real estate mogul-turned-politician’s campaign with millions of dollars in funding. He also drummed up support for Trump on his social media platform X.
