3 Post-Inauguration Lawsuits Against Musk’s Efficiency Agency Tumble Dogecoin Price

Everyone’s favourite dog-themed memecoin, Dogecoin, is down today after three lawsuits were filed within minutes of Donald Trump’s inauguration against the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) alleging breaches of federal transparency laws.

According to The Washington Post, the lawsuits claim that DOGE meets the criteria to be considered a federal advisory committee (FACA) and is therefore subject to certain transparency, hiring and disclosure requirements. So far DOGE has not been meeting most of these requirements. 

• The first suit was filed jointly by Public Citizen, the State Democracy Defenders Fund and the American Federation of Government Employees;
• The second by public interest law firm National Security Counselors; and 
• The third by Democracy Forward and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics.

The progress of these suits could be complicated by an executive order Trump is expected to sign that claims DOGE’s work is being done inside the government and therefore isn’t subject to the transparency laws the suits cite. 

Meanwhile, Elon Musk has made some interesting appearances today — he looked kind of spaced out and weird at the inauguration itself, before he appeared to perform a Nazi salute (twice) while speaking at a post-inauguration event.

According to CoinGecko, at the time of writing Dogecoin was trading at US$0.358 (AU$0.572), down just under 7% from its 24-hour high of $0.384 (AU$0.613).

Related: Musk Warns of Potential Drop in Dogecoin and Bitcoin Prices if ‘Doge Department’ Curbs Inflation

Opinions Differ on What DOGE Is and What Laws Apply

Speaking with The Washington Post, Kel McClanahan, executive director of National Security Counselors, insisted that DOGE is subject to the strict FACA transparency requirements:

DOGE is not exempted from FACA’s requirements. All meetings of DOGE, including those conducted through an electronic medium, must be open to the public.

Kel McClanahan, executive director of National Security Counselors

McClanahan added that if Trump were to sign an executive order making DOGE somehow part of the actual government that would render these current lawsuits meaningless, but it would also make Musk and other employees subject to all kinds of ethics laws they’re likely keen to avoid:

If the Trump administration changes the structure of DOGE to be a government office, that would potentially moot the case, but that would subject Musk and others to a whole bunch of ethics laws I don’t think they want to be subject to.

Kel McClanahan, executive director of National Security Counselors

On the other hand, Sam Hammond, senior economist at the Foundation for American Innovation, says Trump is allowed to take advice from external advisors and these advisors aren’t subject to transparency laws, explaining:

DOGE isn’t a federal advisory committee because DOGE doesn’t really exist. DOGE is a branding exercise, a shorthand for Trump’s government reform efforts…The president is allowed to take advice from external experts without creating a formal advisory committee.

Sam Hammond, senior economist at the Foundation for American Innovation

Musk Makes Waves at Inauguration Events

Meanwhile, Elon Musk has made some strange appearances at inauguration day events. At the inauguration itself Musk at times appeared unusually bobble-headed, with some on social media speculating he was ‘tripping balls’:

Related: Aussie Analyst Says Trump Memecoin Launch Changed Crypto Forever

Later, while speaking at a post-inauguration event, Musk performed two Nazi-style ‘Sieg Heil’ salutes, which as many have noted, is kind of a strange thing to do:

I think it’s safe to say we’re in for a strange and turbulent 4 years…hold onto your butts people.