The White House remained steadfast in its DOGE agenda after 20 Democratic state attorneys general collaborated to file a lawsuit Friday challenging the legality of the administration’s planned cuts to the federal workforce.
“The Democrats have no plan on how to recover from their embarrassing loss, and it shows,” White House principal deputy press secretary Harrison Fields said Monday.
“Instead of working to become a party that focuses on the will of the people, they are hell-bent on keeping their heads in the sand and gaslighting on the widely supported mission of DOGE.”
Maryland’s top lawman led 19 other states in asking a federal court to halt what Attorney General Anthony Brown called illegal mass layoffs of federal probationary employees. His office also called for those already let go to have their jobs reinstated.
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The lawsuit listed each of Trump’s top 21 acting or confirmed cabinet officials as defendants in their official capacity, and alleged the administration made “no secret of their contempt for the roughly 2 million committed professionals who form the federal civil service.”
“Nor have they disguised their plans to terminate vast numbers of civil servants, starting with tens of thousands of probationary employees,” the suit read.
Fields, a spokesman for President Donald Trump, said that slashing waste, fraud and abuse and “becoming better stewards of the American taxpayer’s hard-earned dollars” might “be a crime to Democrats.”
“But, it’s not a crime in a court of law,” Fields said.
Brown said in a statement that Trump’s “mass firings” have thrown thousands of Marylanders and others who work for the government into “financial insecurity.”
Lawmakers in the Old Line State, which is home to the most federal workers per capita, previously warned constituents against Trump’s offer to buy-out their jobs in February.
Rep. Sarah Elfreth — a Democrat who represents a line of bedroom communities including Columbia, Elkridge and Glen Burnie — said her constituents had been coming to her expressing worry about the situation.
“Pushing out career federal employees will only cripple agencies and undermine essential government services — it does nothing to make government more efficient,” she said.
In a statement, Gov. Wes Moore added that he supports the lawsuit and that Marylanders in public service are “dedicated patriots” whose work should be “praised, not villainized.”
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Meanwhile, the lawsuit alleged potential “chaos” nationwide due to these job cuts, and that under the law, cabinet agencies must follow protocols when conducting “Reductions in Force” (RIFs) which include 60 days advanced notice of termination.
It also alleged that the layoffs are being carried out in a manner that forces state governments to abruptly step in, providing safety nets for affected employees — placing additional strain on state services and budgets.
New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin echoed Brown, calling the firings “callous and reckless.”
Platkin claimed several military veterans in the Garden State have already been affected by the layoffs and that the endeavor has greatly damaged partnerships between Trenton and Washington.
“[These layoffs] are not only short-sighted but are illegal, and today we are taking the Trump administration to court in order to reverse them,” he said.
In California, Attorney General Robert Bonta claimed DOGE’s actions will do the opposite of its stated purpose to curb waste and inefficiency.
“The reality is that abrupt and indiscriminate terminations will lead to increased operation disruptions, higher rehiring costs, and long-term financial burdens on taxpayers,” Bonta said, adding that DOGE’s work has the potential to harm national parks within the Golden State.
Meanwhile, Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha added in a statement that states need “appropriate notice” in order to prepare to help affected bureaucrats who live in the Ocean State.
“If [Trump] wants to reduce the size of the federal government, he must do so through legal means: This is another attempt to subvert the rule of law as an illegal means to an end and coalesce executive power in the process,” Neronha said.
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“These protections are on the books for a reason, and we won’t stand for this attack on American workers and their families.”
In defense of Trump and his administration, several Republican governors have countered that investigating and enacting ways to cut bureaucracy is not new, but that the president and Elon Musk have turbo-charged such an endeavor at the federal level.
“Idaho was DOGE before DOGE was cool,” Gem State Gov. Brad Little said in his recent State of the State address.
“Florida has set the standard for fiscally conservative governance,” Sunshine State Gov. Ron DeSantis added last month.
Meanwhile, officials like New Jersey state Sen. Joe Pennacchio, Pennsylvania state Sen. Doug Mastriano and Texas Senate President Brandon Creighton have crafted DOGE commissions or policy proposals in their respective states.
