Newsletter: Destruction Masked as ‘Innovation’

The Trump administration’s radical plans to overhaul the federal government have taken on alarming proportions with the targeting of civil servants, key government programs and agencies, and mechanisms for oversight.

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With international humanitarian aid programs on hold, an unelected billionaire with access to critical data systems, and a federal workforce grappling with uncertainty, the Trump administration’s radical plans to overhaul the entire government have taken on disturbing proportions.

Legality (or lack thereof) seems to be at best an afterthought for Elon Musk’s team as it takes aim at key agencies, government programs, and civil servants. Beyond concerns about the inexperienced engineers with ties to Musk’s companies bypassing security protocols as well as alarm about major conflicts of interest and DOGE staffers’ access to Americans’ private information and sensitive government payment systems, Musk and President Trump’s approach to gutting the federal government reveals a dangerous rejection of constitutional checks on executive power.

The DOGE team’s disdain for the law doesn’t just apply to its contempt for congressional authority over spending; the office has also signaled its intention of evading any accountability or public scrutiny of its action.

On Wednesday, 404 Media reported that employees of DOGE — the so-called Department of Government Efficiency — were told to stop using Slack while lawyers “figure out the best way to handle the records migration” to an office that wouldn’t be subject to the Freedom of Information Act.
A Trump executive order established the U.S. DOGE Service by transforming the U.S. Digital Service, a White House office under the Office of Management and Budget. OMB is subject to FOIA, unlike White House offices meant to solely advise the president.
This follows news from late last month that DOGE members had, since November, been secretly communicating using an encrypted messaging app with an auto-delete feature. We sent letters to Musk and federal agencies warning them to preserve all DOGE-related records or risk violating the Federal Records Act and facing litigation.

This week, the U.S. Agency for International Development — which provides life-saving services around the world, including food assistance and health care — has been at the center of the executive power grab.

On his first day back in office, Trump issued an executive order freezing U.S. foreign assistance programs, and Musk has called USAID a “criminal organization” and said that it is ”time for it to die.”
As of the end of the day on Friday, all USAID staff will be put on administrative leave, which, as one senior official told NPR, amounted to what is “essentially a shutdown of USAID.” Of the agency’s 10,000 employees worldwide, only fewer than 300 will reportedly remain.

This comes after the USAID website went offline last weekend, further exacerbating concerns about the administration’s compliance with record preservation laws.

This week, we launched an investigation into the illegal dismantling of USAID, filing multiple requests for related records and any communications between agency officials and the White House, Congress, or Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Trump’s actions “not only fuel suffering and weaken U.S. leadership around the world but also reveal the depths of his administration’s disregard for human lives,” said our interim executive director, Chioma Chukwu. “American Oversight is committed to exposing the corrupt motives driving the president’s reckless, lawless executive power grab and the devastating harm his administration’s actions are inflicting on the American people.”
We also warned the agency, the National Archives, and the State Department — which the administration plans to absorb parts of USAID — about the potential unlawful destruction or removal of USAID records in violation of the Federal Records Act. The letters demand the agencies take action to recover the records and prevent further destruction.

Senate Confirms Pam Bondi and Russell Vought

The Senate confirmed Pam Bondi, a Trump loyalist with a problematic background on civil rights issues, as U.S. attorney general.

Last month, we joined more than 90 civil rights organizations in opposing Bondi’s nomination, which represents a serious threat to the Justice Department’s independence from political interference, and to holding the president accountable to the rule of law.

On Thursday, the Senate also confirmed Project 2025 architect Russell Vought to lead OMB, a role Vought held at the end of Trump’s first term and one that grants him immense influence over the federal government.

Vought has reportedly crafted plans to defund the Environmental Protection Agency and to deploy the military against protesters. During his confirmation hearings, Vought claimed the president has the ability to withhold spending authorized by Congress.
Vought has also said he wants to inflict “trauma” on the federal workforce. Many of the second Trump administration’s early moves to dismantle government agencies and fire federal workers reflect Vought’s Project 2025 plans.
American Oversight previously obtained and published a number of public records related to Vought, including emails that show he suggested that Arizona use “war powers” to allow National Guard units to detain undocumented immigrants in 2022.

On the Records

Records Obtained in DeSantis Suit Shed New Light on State Park Golf Course Plans

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration’s initial conversations regarding plans to develop hotels and golf courses in state parks appear to have taken place more than a year before the plans were made public, as revealed in records we obtained that were reported on this week by the Tampa Bay Times.

The documents include a Feb. 23, 2023, calendar appointment for officials in DeSantis’ office, including his then-chief of staff James Uthmeier, to meet with Lt. Col. Dan Rooney, founder of a veterans’ charity that was behind plans to develop a golf course at a state park.

If that discussion was about the golf course plans, it would be the earliest known conversation about the potential development. The plans were made public by a now-fired whistleblower in August 2024, leading to statewide protests and the withdrawal of the plans.
The records were released through our lawsuit against DeSantis’ office for his pattern or practice of failing to properly respond to public records requests, in violation of state law.
DeSantis, who has tried to distance himself from the project, appointed Uthmeier state attorney general last week. As the Orlando Sentinel highlighted last week, Uthmeier is now at the center of legal battles over public records, including another lawsuit brought by the Florida Center for Government Accountability.

Newsletter: Destruction Masked as ‘Innovation’

On the Records

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