Public Citizen Sues over DOGE Violation of Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA)

Yes, my friends, our Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) applies to DOGE.  Federal Advisory Committee Act law must be enforced.  During 1986-1993, I succcessuflly raised concerns about the Administrative Conference of the United States, writing an article for Common <i>Cause Magazine, challenging then Public Citizen Director Alan Morrison to sue ACUS.  Congress defunded ACUS, from 1995-2010.  Good news. When I interviewed Morrison, the skilled Supreme Court advocate told me that ACUS "should be sued" for FACA violations, but he demurred when I asked him to sue ACUS, saying that they returned his phone calls.  He's now a law professor at GWU. From Public Citizen: 

On Monday, January 20, 2025 at 05:08:35 PM EST, Public Citizen <president@citizen.org> wrote:

We have very big news.

Public Citizen filed a lawsuit against Donald J. Trump just moments after he was once again sworn in as president of the United States.

Here’s what you need to know:

• Our lawsuit is about Trump’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (a.k.a. DOGE).

• The suit explains that DOGE is what’s known as an advisory committee, which means it is subject to a 1972 law called the Federal Advisory Committee Act.

• The law requires that such committees be “fairly balanced in terms of the points of view represented and the functions to be performed” and that they operate transparently.

• DOGE is most definitely not fairly balanced and most definitely not set up to operate transparently.

• DOGE will be run by Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, putting him in a position to drive policy recommendations in Trump’s second term.

• And although Trump says that DOGE is about “efficiency,” the true intent is to spike corporate profits by rolling back vital regulatory protections — on things like clean air, safe food, and workplace safety — and to slash government spending on vital programs like nutrition assistance and Medicaid.

Forcing DOGE to comply with the law is one way to shine light on the Trump regime’s conflicts of interest and to fight back against its extremist, pro-corporate agenda.

But winning a legal battle like this will not be easy.

If you can, please donate today to help Public Citizen continue standing up to the Trump regime.

Anything you can chip in — $5 or $25, $50 or $100, $500 or even more — will help at such a critical moment.

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Thank you for being part of this shared project called Public Citizen.

For progress,

- Robert Weissman & Lisa Gilbert, Co-Presidents of Public Citizen
 
 
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