Info on DOGE, Musk Ethics Conflicts Demanded to Avoid Litigation

The Center Biological Diversity sent a letter today to President Trump’s Office of Management and Budget and other federal agencies demanding more information on whether the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, complies with the Federal Advisory Committee Act.

The Center also submitted multiple Freedom of Information Act requests to shed light on the workings of DOGE and its compliance with federal conflict of interest laws. The Center intends to bring litigation should the Office of Management and Budget fail to respond in two weeks.

“It’s quickly becoming clear that Elon Musk’s DOGE enterprise will be the nexus of graft, corruption and self-enrichment within the Trump administration,” said Kierán Suckling, the Center’s executive director. “With Musk, crypto bros and who knows how many other billionaires lurking in the White House, it’s vital that the public finds out which environmental and human health safeguards they’re gunning for to enrich their businesses and themselves.”

Trump’s day-one executive order established DOGE as a “temporary organization” within the White House Office of Management and Budget. Today’s letter explains that under the law, a temporary organization is a “commission, committee, board, or other organization” with a purpose of “performing a specific study or other project.”

But the president’s executive order directs this organization to implement his “DOGE agenda,” which Musk has described as including cuts to regulatory safeguards across all federal agencies, reducing the entire federal workforce by 70% and slashing $2 trillion from the federal budget.

A temporary organization established by the president that’s not composed entirely of federal employees must still comply with all requirements of the Federal Advisory Committee Act. These include balanced representation, notification to the public in advance of any meetings, and other sunlight and transparency requirements.

Musk has stated on his social media platform that he and many others working at DOGE will be volunteers. While a temporary organization is allowed to employ volunteer labor, the law also makes clear that all volunteers are “considered an employee of the federal government” with respect to all federal prohibitions on bribery, graft and conflicts of interest.

Many companies owned by Musk receive federal contracts and all his companies must comply with federal safety, health and environmental safeguards, but DOGE has not appeared to address or disclose any of the likely conflicts of interests surrounding Musk and other volunteers.

“Every day that goes by with DOGE operating in the shadows should be a deep concern to ordinary Americans,” said Suckling. “We’re going to uncover what’s really on their agenda and stop any attempt to make our air and water dirtier, weaken protections for our nation’s most imperiled wildlife and turn over our public lands to polluters and the fossil fuel industry.”