by Guy Page
Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark and 13 other state attorneys general have filed a lawsuit challenging what they call an “unconstitutional power grab” by Elon Musk, head of the Department Of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
The 13 states name Musk, President Donald Trump, and DOGE as defendants. They seek an injunction to stop Musk’s work at DOGE, which is intended to seek out and eliminate govetnment spending waste, fraud and abuse.
According to a February 13 statement from Clark’s office, the lawsuit accuses Trump of unlawfully granting Musk sweeping authority over federal agencies, bypassing congressional approval and violating the U.S. Constitution’s Appointments Clause.
Editor’s note: A rebuttal of many points raised by Clark’s lawsuit is published by Dave Soulia on FYIVT.com. For a complete list of all of legal action taken by Clark against the Trump administration, click here.
“Unelected billionaire Elon Musk has been wreaking havoc on our government, destroying careers, upending critical programs that support Vermonters, and putting our national security at risk,” said Attorney General Clark in a statement.
The lawsuit claims that Musk, with Trump’s approval, has dismantled key federal agencies, accessed classified data, and disrupted funding streams that states rely on for essential services. The attorneys general argue that Musk’s influence threatens billions in federal funding for law enforcement, education, healthcare, and other public programs.
A major point of contention is the alleged elimination of the U.S. Department of Education, which the attorneys general say will strip away federal civil rights oversight in schools. This could leave states struggling to enforce disability protections and anti-discrimination laws without clear legal authority.
However, supporters of shuttering DOE say disability law enforcement could be provided by other federal agencies, as it was before the Carter administration created the agency.
Testifying to Congress today, Trump administration DOE Secretary appointee Linda McMahon said she wants to reduce the “excessive concentration” of the D.C. education establishment and instead empower states.
Additionally, the lawsuit raises concerns over cybersecurity risks, alleging that DOGE employees have gained unauthorized access to federal financial databases. This, the lawsuit warns, could compromise sensitive tax and banking records, leaving states and individuals vulnerable to cyber threats.
The attorneys general are seeking a court ruling that would declare Musk’s appointment and actions unconstitutional. They are also requesting an injunction to prevent Musk and his team from making further changes to the federal government while reversing any unauthorized alterations they have already made.
The lawsuit is supported by the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Washington.
A full copy of the complaint can be found here.
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Categories: State Government
Boo hoo Ms. Clark…come get them up here in Vermont Donald and Elon!
Funny thing, though. Obama created the mechanisms to audit government in 2013.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/obama-renews-effort-to-improve-government-efficiency/
ms clark you are wasting vermonter’s money
ms. clark serves the elitist donor class, not the Vermont voter or taxpayer.
She will do as instructed to maintain status quo for her masters, doing whatever possible to keep the spigot of borrowed money flowing into Vermont’s general funding NGO coffers.
Amen! And she is supporting spending our children’s financial futures into devestating oblivion. She is just awful!
Unelected bureaucrats want the illegal flow of taxpayer money to continue. Especially. the Democrats and special interest groups.
Meanwhile Americans are ignored, waiting for relief from inflation, regulation, waste. corruption.
Our AG and her co-conspiring AG’s are analogous to ants swarming about mindlessly while an anteater feasts on them. She does get satisfaction, I suppose, from wasting our money.
Guess she got the memo from Soros. She will not have her position for long if all the free money dries up, soon coming staff reductions at vtdigger, front porch forum, and Vermont. Gravy train is over.
Yes ms Clark, try explaining to the President and Mr. Musk why Vermont allows drivers licenses for illegals and letting illegals vote in our elections is constitutional????
You should support the President’s efforts to combat fraud, waste and abuse wherever it is and stop it!!!! You are spending money we don’t have and opening us up to being sued!!!
AG Clark, if you and your other AG’s think doing an audit when the country is $36 Trillion in debt, is a bad Idea, then you clowns are part of the problem.
And having someone who is ” Non ” elected person or persons bothers you, then again you’re part of the problem, we really don’t need another corrupt official hiding the findings within Government, as that’s why we are $36T in debt, shame on you, I assume your getting your marching orders from Gov. Scott, And I hope DOGE comes to Vermont as I bet our officials aren’t squeak·y clean !!
If all the Government spending is on the up and up this shouldn’t be a problem, but as a taxpayer, we need answers and DOGE will help us understand why $36T
Crime and corruption is all around us, and that includes elected official that took an oath, but money does strange things to people.
The Truth Will Set You Free, and audits will get us there.
https://doge.gov/ It’s coming for all the Commiecrat’s money.
The good news is we have the names of 13 traitors who are derelict of their sworn duty. Tis’ the season for treason! There is word going around that DOGE was actually Obama’s idea, set it up years ago and never used it. How is that for a flying gooey cow pie splatted upon the repugnant faces of Dem/Progs? Their days are numbered and sewed on their prison jumpsuits. Let it be so and done!
LOL! Yes!!! Put Vermont on the MAP for Trump, ICE, & DOGE!!!!!!!!!!! Homan, when you come in to clean out VT – take this Commie with you.
Still trying to figure out why anyone would panic over a team basically doing an audit. Doesn’t every company of even modest size in the United States have an audit done at least once a year? Don’t we *want* an efficient government that doesn’t frivolously (or clandestinely) spend our money?
No… it isn’t Musk and it isn’t DOGE. Someone doesn’t want the people to find out how they got so rich in such a short time. Or worse. Much worse.
So Ms Clark goes along like the good little Dem robot she is. They say jump, she asks how high. Does Ms Clark have something to hide? Maybe, I don’t know. But even if she does, it isn’t at DOGE level, so she’s safe.
That said, she has a LOT to gain. Her actions are a political favor. A very big political favor. Which she’s hoping will be rewarded down the road a ways. Win or lose this case, she has done her job. Watch her climb the ladder of Vermont politics over the next few years and understand why. Unless, of course, the adults can finally get control of the state away from the children.
And remember, as S Bowen commented above, it ain’t her money she’s wasting, it’s OURS.
The domino effect perhaps – one get’s knocked over, they all get knocked over. Fraud has a limited shelf life – look’s like their shelf is coming apart. Be prepared and stay alert -they wont go quietly or without a nasty fight – they are projecting that daily.
Re: “According to a February 13 statement from Clark’s office, the lawsuit accuses Trump of unlawfully granting Musk sweeping authority over federal agencies, bypassing congressional approval and violating the U.S. Constitution’s Appointments Clause.”
Was Anthony Fauci approved by Congress to be the director of the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) subsidiary, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). Was Fauci’s wife, Christine Grady, approved by Congress to be the Director of Bioethics at the (NIH), overseeing her husband’s activities?
Was NIH director, Dr. Francis Collins, approved by Congress? The same Dr. Collins who admitted to taxpayer-funded ‘gain-of-function’ research at China’s Wuhan Lab.
No, No, and No.
How many of Governor Scott’s appointments were approved by the Vermont legislature? Zoie Saunders comes to mind.
“To the extent that the Senators argue that the Senate’s decision to not confirm Ms. Saunders prevents the Governor from reappointing her, whether on an interim or permanent basis, the court disagrees, Mello wrote in his 10-page order.”
Was Magaret Cheney, wife of Senator Peter Welch, approved by the legislature to be a Public Utilities Commissioner? If she was, shame on them.
AG Clark and her supporting legislators are corrupt. They apply the law as best feathers their own nests. But what else is new.
Magaret Cheney, wife of Senator Peter Welch, a Public Utilities Commissioner? What? It may be legally ok, but it seems unethical and looks like a gift only offered to a few with influence, not necessarily expertise. If I was a senator, my wife would be doing volunteer work for free, maybe remotely, rarely, possibly, for expenses.
Well, well, well, who would have thought that these AG’s would fall into Trump’s trap so quickly to come out of the woodwork and step into the limelight to show themselves so corrupt. Looks like things will happen sooner in Vermont (and in these other states) then we thought. They live in fear of DOGE and Trump.
DOGE, (Department Of Government Efficiency) “is intended to seek out and eliminate government spending waste, fraud and abuse.” That is a GOOD thing ! What are you afraid of Madame Attorney General ? Why is that you seem to want Vermont to be joined at the um… hip… with California and their agenda ? To me you are like an echo to California’s failing left of liberal (I’m trying to play nicely!) agenda. California is a failing state. Why do you insist on dragging us down the toilet with them ? Get the surgery which will humanely seperate Vermont from California !
Looks like Vermont needs a full investigation of the Democrat controlled Government also! Vermont must spend money to step in line and follow the orders of NY Governor Hochul, the DNC and Democrat leadership in Congress, spending millions while complaining that taxes must be increased! It is said by democrats they are trying to save democracy and address a Constitutional Crisis, the Democrats are creating the Constitutional Crisis by attempt to subvent the Article One powers of the Executive. Plus they scream when it is pointed out that the US is not a Democracy but a Representative Republic, Vermont was always a Republic even before joining the Untied States. We know that our elected officials in Vermont, like our current AG, for the most part are elected by New Yorkers voting in towns where their second and third homes are. Democrats and mainstream media such as NBC have thrown tantrums that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) led by Elon Musk under President Donald Trump is unprecedented. But what is actually unprecedented is that liberals are being told ‘no’ to receiving millions or Billions of dollars to further their progressive agendas at the expense of American taxpayers. Why would the chief law enforcement officer of our State be against finding and eliminating waste and fraud and potential kickbacks in the spending of our precious tax money? Unless benefiting someway in the kickbacks.
Report this morning that it was uncovered US Tax Dollars were used to fund in whole or in part the October 7, 2023 attack on an Israeli settlement resulting in murders, rapes and hostages being taken. So AG Clark is spending Vermont Tax Payer money to support this type of actions while her colleagues are attempting to raise our taxes. The Blue State of Vermont is corrupted and a wannabe California and New York! There is a new website DOGE.gov with statistics so far but will have the receipt documentation of the findings reported this week posted by tonight or at least the end of the weekend.
Clark NEEDS TO GO VOTE HER OUT
It is believed by some that the Democrats aren’t very smart.
Sometimes, Mr. Page, when the shoe fits, wear it.
A ‘Republican’ is Sitting in a Bar.
Then a Democrat walks into the bar and is about to order a beer when he sees a guy at the far end of the bar wearing a TRUMP “Make America Great Again” cap with two beers sitting in front of him.
The ‘Dem’ doesn’t need to be an Einstein to know that this guy is a Republican, so he shouts over to the bartender so loudly that everyone can hear, “Drinks for everyone in here, bartender…. but not for the ‘Republican’.”
Soon after the drinks have been passed out, the Republican gives him a big smile, waves at him then says, “Thank you!” in an equally loud voice.
Somewhat infuriated, the Dem once again loudly orders drinks for everyone except the Republican. As before, this doesn’t seem to bother the Republican. He nods and smiles, and again yells, “Thank you!”
A few more minutes pass and the Dem orders another round of drinks for everyone except the Republican.
Just as before, the Republican continues smiling and again yells out, “Thank you!!”
Frustrated that he can’t seem to get the guy angered, the Dem asks the bartender, “What is wrong with that Republican? I’ve ordered three rounds of drinks for everyone in the bar but him, and all the dummy does is smile and thank me. Is he nuts…?”
“Nope,” replies the bartender. “He owns the place.”
Did you not see the results of the election or are you just numb sculled?
Yes! Go get them! How dare they try to uncover and stop the waste and fraud that our government engages in while the taxpayer lives paycheck to paycheck – if they are lucky. Seriously, don’t these idiots u sweat and that this is exactly what the voters mandated?
What is the matter? The Vermont Attorney General wants to look the other way while billions of U.S. taxpayers money is going to waste and fraud? This sounds like never-Trump law fare and Vermont taxpayer money is being wasted for political pettiness.
Will Vermont Citizens EVER tire of these corrupt and self serving Statists? Rather than going after killers, rapists, drug dealers, illegal immigrants, etc. they’d rather spend their time attempting to thwart efforts to ensure every federal tax dollar goes toward it’s true intent. These are the same people telling us that we should all “pay our fair share”! fair share of what? Vermonters need to send these Statists/bureaucrats packing.
This is just a very liberal and stupid waste of my tax dollars. I can think of many, many better ways to spend money. Will the voters in Vermont ever learn ? Or continue to be the used fools.
Warms my heart to see at least some Vermonters are aware of the evil in our state government. Vermont really needs to improve their choices of they elect. This could be such a wonderful and happy state if it was managed by real republicans…not the present rinos.
Vermonters have voted for better leadership. The elections are rigged. Or do you still believe mail-in ballots processed in Hartford, Connecticut, untouchable electronic tabulators with internet capability, and a voter list controlled by Soros-funded ERIC all equate to “the safest, most secure and accurate elections Ever?”
Why is it that Clark always has to sign a group letter with “13 other state AsG?” It’s always for some anti-common sense reason. The last one I remember her doing in cahoots with the 13 other AsG was trying to outlaw and shut down pregnancy resource centers in Vermont because she says they’re fake clinics, they lie to women, and they don’t perform “full services” because they don’t commit abortions. And yet those PRCs don’t receive one single penny from taxpayer money or insurance companies, like Banned Parenthood does.
Sheer lunacy.
The more common sense and compassionate a policy or program supported by the Trump administration, the more berserk and rabid the Left becomes to try to destroy anything that is truly in the best interests of our families and communities.
It’s really a demonic hatred that makes no rational sense.
Totally correct!
She must be a beneficiary of all the government waste and fraud Musk is uncovering. I want to see Vermont form it’s own DOGE. But I won’t hold my breath waiting.
I want you to stop wasting my tax dollars suing the Federal Gov’t for auditing every dept starting with the Treasury. I think the corruption has to stop and the Federal waste. Why are you doing this? You are part of the problem and not the solution. And I am appalled by this form that has pronouns at the top. President Trump has written an Executive Order stating there are only two genders, male and female. Please correct this form. I will be sending this to the Governor as well. It has been noted by the Staff Secretary of the U.S. , Stephen Miller, that Elon Musk and his workers are staff employees, Elon has Presidential security clearance. This suit is just a Democratic stunt to stop Donald Trump from doing what the majority of America voted on, so please stop this nonsense.