Three watchdogs ask a federal court to halt Hegseth's 'future of warfare' panel led by Musk, Luckey and Gingrich, alleging FACA violations

On 2 November CREW, Public Citizen and POGO sued the Department of Defense, Secretary Hegseth and Under Secretary Emil Michael in federal court in Washington, seeking to shut down 'Project Meridian', the panel created by a 30 September memo. The complaint says 19 of 21 participants are from the private sector, with Michael and Air Force chief scientist Victoria Coleman the only government members, and that the body is an unlawful advisory committee under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, which requires a charter, public notice, available records and a 'fairly balanced' membership. The panel, run with MITRE, is due to deliver a report of up to 30 pages plus classified annexes by 28 January 2027; the Pentagon and MITRE did not respond to requests for comment.