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office of management and budget
Green Group Sues to Expose Musk and 'Department of Government Evisceration'
"The public has every right to know what kind of rogue agency Elon Musk and his tech-bro army have created."
Feb 27, 2025
A U.S. conservation group sued the Trump administration in a Washington, D.C. federal court on Thursday to reveal details about the so-called Department of Government Efficiency and its apparent leader, billionaire Elon Musk.
"The public has every right to know what kind of rogue agency Elon Musk and his tech-bro army have created," said Brett Hartl, government affairs director at the Center for Biological Diversity, in a statement about the group's suit.
"Musk's wrecking ball outfit should be called the Department of Government Evisceration because he's destroying critical federal agencies that keep us and the environment safe and healthy," Hartl declared. "The reality is that rebuilding functioning federal agencies will cost far more in the long run than any trivial savings gained."
"The center and its members are deeply interested in, and affected by, how the stated mission for DOGE and its related activities could harm, undermine, or negate the center's long-standing efforts to protect the environment and the livability of our planet."
The center noted that its case "appears to be the first contending that DOGE itself is an 'agency' for purposes of" the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), a federal law that gives the public—including reporters—the right to request government records.
As Musk and his minions have attempted to gut government agencies and obtained Americans' sensitive data, journalists and other observers have sounded the alarm over difficulties accessing information about DOGE and its billionaire leader—whose companies have gotten at least $38 billion from the U.S. government since 2006, according toThe Washington Post.
Trump announced just after his reelection that Musk, the richest person on Earth, would chair an initiative designed to slash federal spending and regulations. On his first day back in office, the Republican signed an executive order establishing the DOGE Service Temporary Organization and rebranding the United States Digital Service (USDS) as the U.S. DOGE Service.
A Trump official has since claimed in a declaration to a federal court that Musk is neither the administrator nor an employee of USDS or the temporary organization—he is officially a White House Office employee serving as "a senior adviser to the president," allegedly with "no actual or formal authority to make government decisions himself."
Given how those claims conflict with Trump and Musk's comments and behaviors over the past few months, Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, launched an investigation last week and demanded answers from the White House by March 6.
The conservation group aims to reveal similar information: the identities of DOGE's workers and volunteers, meeting details, communications involving Musk's businesses, and directives from the White House. The complaint names Musk, DOGE, USDS, Amy Gleason—the acting administrator of those two entities, according to the White House—and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
Fuck the broligarchy keychain on the ground
[image or embed]
— Tierra Curry (@savelifeonearth.bsky.social) February 27, 2025 at 10:42 AM
The records that the center is requesting "are subject to FOIA, and their relevance is extremely time-sensitive given DOGE's ongoing efforts to refashion the federal government and workforce in fundamental ways with no or minimal transparency," the complaint states. "FOIA was designed to ensure that monumental and consequential undertakings such as this could not take place without transparency. Yet that is what is occurring as defendants are engaging in wholesale disregard for FOIA's pro-disclosure mandate."
"In the absence of judicial intervention, they will continue to do so," the suit warns. "Specifically, President Trump established DOGE to repeal, rescind, and otherwise eliminate various facets of the federal government in the name of cost-cutting."
"Given the substantial protections for air and water, wildlife and nature, climate, public lands, and the environment generally implemented through federal staff and regulations," the complaint adds, "the center and its members are deeply interested in, and affected by, how the stated mission for DOGE and its related activities could harm, undermine, or negate the center's long-standing efforts to protect the environment and the livability of our planet."
The filing follows the center's January suit against OMB seeking DOGE documents. The group said Thursday that "to date, the government has failed to provide any records in response to the center's Freedom of Information Act requests."
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Dire Warnings as Trump Orders Mass Firing Plans Across Federal Agencies
"This order is the equivalent of putting on a blindfold and smashing everything, without knowing what you're destroying or how many people it hurts," said one journalist.
Feb 26, 2025
U.S. President Donald Trump escalated his wholesale assault on the federal government and its workforce on Wednesday by ordering agencies to submit plans for mass firings by March 13 as the destructive impacts of the new administration's onslaught ripple across the country.
The president's order came in the form of a memo from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)—headed by Project 2025 architect Russell Vought—and the Office of Personnel Management, an agency overtaken by lieutenants of billionaire Elon Musk.
Citing Trump's call for "large-scale reductions in force" across the federal government, the memo states that agencies "should focus on the maximum elimination of functions that are not statutorily mandated while driving the highest-quality, most efficient delivery of their statutorily-required functions."
"Agencies should also seek to consolidate areas of the agency organization chart that are duplicative; consolidate management layers where unnecessary layers exist; seek reductions in components and positions that are non-critical; implement technological solutions that automate routine tasks while enabling staff to focus on higher-value activities; close and/or consolidate regional field offices to the extent consistent with efficient service delivery; and maximally reduce the use of outside consultants and contractors," the memo adds.
HuffPost reporter Jennifer Bendery characterized the new memo as consistent with the wrecking-ball approach that Trump and Musk have taken over the past month as they've moved aggressively to eviscerate federal departments and funding, running roughshod over the law in the process.
"This order is the equivalent of putting on a blindfold and smashing everything, without knowing what you're destroying or how many people it hurts," Bendery wrote on social media.
Kevin Owen, an employment lawyer who represents federal workers, toldThe Associated Press that the latest memo from OMB and OPM "looks like a plan for a significant and shocking reduction of the federal workforce that I don't think the American people are prepared for."
"It's going to cripple a lot of government functions," Owen warned.
"Musk is failing up in this administration because he didn't earn his job, he bought it. It's corrupt, and risks Americans' health and safety."
The order came as communities across the country grappled with the consequences of the Trump administration's mass terminations of federal workers and illegal withholding of funds approved by Congress, which is now in the grip of a GOP that has proven subservient to the president.
The federal government is the single-largest employer in the United States, and Trump and Musk's effort to gut entire departments could have far-reaching and devastating economic impacts.
The Washington Postreported earlier this month that "the Trump administration's move to fire thousands of federal employees could have a swift and severe impact on public services... making it harder for veterans to get mental healthcare and hampering electric service to some rural residents as a beleaguered workforce struggles to cover for lost colleagues."
"In an Energy Department subagency that helps provide power, staff who handled homeowners' electricity bills were fired, employees said, potentially leaving no one to take the money that keeps their lights on," the newspaper added. "In one state, all but two of the employees who helmed an Agriculture Department program assisting poor rural communities were fired. And in a tiny Wyoming town, a Forest Service office that has spent decades providing support to hikers, Christmas tree permits to residents, and firewood for the elderly has been forced to shutter, a staffer said."
In some cases, the Trump administration has rushed to rescind terminations after employees responsible for food safety reviews, the federal bird flu response, and nuclear security were caught up in the mass firings—accidentally, the administration claims. Some federal employees have been reinstated by court order.
During the first Cabinet meeting of the second Trump administration on Wednesday, Musk—who is not a Cabinet official—admitted that his so-called Department of Government Efficiency "accidentally" canceled Ebola prevention efforts as it worked to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.), who represents many federal workers, wrote in response that "an average person who did something as incompetent as 'accidentally canceling Ebola prevention' wouldn't be applauded, they'd be fired."
"Musk is failing up in this administration because he didn't earn his job, he bought it," Beyer added. "It's corrupt, and risks Americans' health and safety."
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Federal Judge Extends Block on Trump Funding Freeze
"Plaintiffs have marshaled significant evidence indicating that the funding freeze would be economically catastrophic—and in some circumstances, fatal—to their members," the judge wrote.
Feb 25, 2025
A federal judge in Washington, D.C. issued a preliminary injunction against the Trump administration's funding freeze on Tuesday, handing another win to a coalition representing nonprofits and small businesses impacted by the policy.
Filed by Democracy Forward on behalf of the National Council of Nonprofits, the American Public Health Association, Main Street Alliance, and SAGE, this case is one of two challenges to the funding freeze currently before U.S. district judges.
Judge Loren AliKhan, nominated by former President Joe Biden, noted in her Tuesday opinion that she previously issued a temporary restraining order barring the defendants—Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and its far-right director, Russell Vought—from "implementing, giving effect to, or reinstating under a different name" a now-rescinded memo halting federal funding.
"The Trump administration's OMB grant freeze memo plunged people and communities across the country into chaos and uncertainty."
"The court reminds defendants that the injunctive relief currently in place was issued to temporarily stave off imminent, irreparable harm," AliKhan wrote. "Facts have certainly evolved since then... but defendants cannot pretend that the nationwide chaos and paralysis from two weeks ago is some distant memory with no bearing on this case."
"The relief plaintiffs now seek is a more durable version of the relief they sought then, when their members were on the brink of extinction," she continued. "In sum, plaintiffs have marshaled significant evidence indicating that the funding freeze would be economically catastrophic—and in some circumstances, fatal—to their members."
In a statement responding to the order, Democracy Forward president and CEO Skye Perryman said that "the Trump administration's OMB grant freeze memo plunged people and communities across the country into chaos and uncertainty as they waited to see if critical programs would continue—from childcare, to eldercare, to food services, to health programs, to community initiatives."
"This preliminary injunction will allow our clients to continue to provide services to people across this country," Perryman explained. "We are pleased that the court issued this ruling, halting the Trump administration's lawless attempt to harm everyday Americans in service of a political goal."
Diane Yentel, president and CEO of the National Council of Nonprofits, similarly called the judge's decision "a tremendous relief for thousands of nonprofit organizations throughout the country that are struggling to continue their vital work," which includes "providing wildfire mitigation, disaster relief, services to survivors of domestic violence, support for our nation's veterans, and so much more."
Main Street Alliance executive director Richard Trent said the order is also important to small businesses and the communities they serve. The development also "shows that organizing and targeted legal action are some of the most impactful ways to hold the administration accountable for errant decision-making that touches Main Street," he added.
The preliminary injunction from AliKhan follows a Friday hearing in the other case, before U.S. District Judge John McConnell Jr. in Rhode Island. That challenge was brought by the Democratic attorneys general in 22 states and the District of Columbia. NPRreported that McConnell, who had also issued a temporary restraining order against the funding freeze, said that he would leave it in place, "but that he hoped to have a final ruling on the case in about a week."
McConnell, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, is one of at least three federal judges that congressional Republicans are targeting with impeachment efforts for thwarting Trump's far-right agenda.
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