By Raphael Satter, Tim Reid and Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday to create an advisory group called the Department of Government Efficiency aimed at carrying out dramatic cuts to the U.S. government, attracting immediate lawsuits challenging its operations.
The group -- dubbed the Department of Government Efficiency, or "DOGE" -- is being run by Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk and has grandiose goals of eliminating entire federal agencies and cutting three quarters of federal government jobs.
Failed Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy was a co-chair but has left to run for elected office, Trump spokesperson Anna Kelly said. A person familiar with Ramaswamy's plan says he is gearing up to run for governor of Ohio.
"To restore competence and effectiveness to our federal government, my administration will establish the brand new Department of Government Efficiency," Trump said in his inaugural speech on Monday.
The executive order, announced by the White House late on Monday, stated the group's aim to "modernize federal technology and software."
Trump told reporters there were plans to hire about 20 individuals to ensure the implementation of the group's objectives.
However, the committee, despite its name, is not a department and has limited official power to carry out any reorganization, let alone the sweeping cuts proposed by Musk and Ramaswamy.
Government employee unions, watchdog groups, and public interest organizations sued within minutes of the announcement.
Among them were National Security Counselors, which alleged that DOGE was breaking a 1972 law that governed federal advisory committees. So too 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 the DOGE's uncertain legal status, along with a union representing U.S. government employees.
Tesla and the White House's Office of Management and Budget, which is named as a defendant in the lawsuits, didn't immediately return messages seeking comment.
Advisory committees on cutting government waste are often announced to great fanfare and typically accomplish little of note.
In 1982, then-President Ronald Reagan announced a group composed of "outstanding experts from the private sector" to review the executive branch's spending. It ended up delivering its report 18 months late; most of its recommendations were never implemented.