Written by Raphael Satter, Tim Reid and Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday to create an advisory group called the Government Efficiency Administration aimed at implementing deep cuts to the U.S. government budget, sparking immediate lawsuits challenging its operations.
The group — dubbed the Department of Government Efficiency, or “DOGE” — is run by Tesla (NASDAQ:) CEO Elon Musk and has grandiose goals of eliminating entire federal agencies and cutting three-quarters of federal government jobs.
Trump spokeswoman Anna Kelly said failed Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy was a co-chair but left to run for elected office. A person familiar with Ramaswamy's plan says he is preparing to run for governor of Ohio.
“To restore efficiency and effectiveness to our federal government, my administration will create a new Department of Government Efficiency,” Trump said in his inaugural address on Monday.
The executive order, announced by the White House late Monday, stated that the group's goal is to “modernize federal technology and software.”
Trump told reporters that there are plans to hire about 20 individuals to ensure the group's goals are implemented.
However, the committee, despite its name, is not a department and has limited formal authority to implement any reorganization, let alone the sweeping cuts proposed by Musk and Ramaswamy.
Public employee unions, watchdog groups and public interest organizations filed a lawsuit within minutes of the announcement.
They included national security advisers, who alleged that DOGE was violating the 1972 law governing federal advisory committees. So did the American Public Health Association, the American Federation of Teachers, and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a watchdog group.
Another watchdog group, Public Citizen, is suing over DOGE's uncertain legal status, along with a union representing U.S. government employees.
Tesla and the White House Office of Management and Budget, which is named as a defendant in the lawsuits, did not immediately return messages seeking comment.
Advisory committees on reducing government waste are often announced with great fanfare and usually accomplish little of interest.
In 1982, then-President Ronald Reagan announced the formation of a group composed of “leading experts from the private sector” to review executive branch spending. She ended up submitting her report 18 months late; Most of its recommendations were never implemented.
