The plaintiffs said DOGE is breaking federal laws and that recent executive orders on DEI and transgender ideology are unconstitutional.
Two lawsuits were filed on Feb. 20 against the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and President Donald Trump’s executive orders that curb the government’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and disavow transgender ideology.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) v. U.S. DOGE Service was filed at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
CREW asked the court to compel DOGE to comply with federal disclosure and records laws.
The other lawsuit, San Francisco AIDS Foundation v. Trump, was filed at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
The plaintiffs said that three of Trump’s recent executive orders related to DEI policies are unconstitutional and asked the court to block them.
In CREW’s lawsuit, the defendants are DOGE, Elon Musk, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and the National Archives and Records Administration.
Trump issued Executive Order 14158 on Jan. 20 implementing DOGE, an advisory body that recommends cost-cutting measures. The order reorganized the U.S. Digital Service—which President Barack Obama created in 2014 within the Executive Office of the President—as the U.S. DOGE Service, according to a Congressional Research Service report.
The order directed the entity to “implement the President’s DOGE Agenda, by modernizing Federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity.”
Federal government officials have recently given differing accounts of Musk’s status at DOGE.
The White House has previously referred to Musk, a tech entrepreneur, as a special government employee. The designation allows him to work for the federal government and potentially avoid disclosure rules regarding possible conflicts of interest and finances that generally apply to other government workers.
White House official Joshua Fisher said in a court filing on Feb. 17 that Musk does not work for DOGE and has no decision-making authority.
Both DOGE and a subunit of DOGE are separate from the White House Office, which employs Musk as a special government employee and senior adviser to the president, Fisher said.
