New Lawsuit Challenges Hegseth’s Illegal ‘Future of Warfare’ Committee

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Department of Defense’s recently announced advisory committee — dubbed “Project Meridian: the Future of Warfare” — was created and is operating in violation of federal law, according to a new lawsuit brought by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), Public Citizen, and Project On Government Oversight (POGO). The lawsuit alleges that the Department has failed to follow the requirements of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA).

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the formation of the new committee in a memo. The same day, the Pentagon announced that the committee would be led by Elon Musk, Palmer Luckey, and Newt Gingrich. Musk and Luckey, who lead and are stakeholders of several major defense contractors, are joined by more than a dozen other committee members who have substantial financial interests in the outcome of Project Meridian’s recommendations, presenting major conflicts of interest concerns. Project Meridian cannot advise the Pentagon until and unless it is properly created and its members have the varied expertise, experience, and viewpoints required by law.

“The Defense Department is legally barred from getting advice in secret, by defense contractors with enormous potential conflicts of interest. But that’s exactly what Project Meridian is doing - soliciting private counsel from contractors about military capacity including the president's largest political benefactor,” said Donald K. Sherman, President of CREW. “The Federal Advisory Committee Act sets clear requirements about transparency and avoiding conflicts of interest, and Project Meridian must either comply or stop operating.”

“Project Meridian would outsource design of grand military strategy to two extremist Pentagon contractors, Elon Musk and Palmer Luckey,” said Robert Weissman, co-president of Public Citizen and a plaintiff in the lawsuit. “Very predictably, they will recommend more spending, much more spending, on more AI-enabled weaponry. That would simultaneously make the world more dangerous and starve funding for domestic and human needs. The law demands balance on advisory committees, precisely to prevent connected insiders like Musk and Luckey from writing policy at the expense of the public.”

"The federal government should not be outsourcing its vision on ‘the future of warfare’ to a panel dominated by individuals that stand to profit from it,” said Isabel Munilla, interim executive director of the Project On Government Oversight. "For decades, the weapons industry has benefited from its outsized influence over the Pentagon, driving billions of taxpayer dollars on costly weapons systems that overpromise and underdeliver. Stacking Project Meridian with industry leaders will further skew national security policy toward corporate priorities, and away from the public interest. We cannot afford more wasteful defense spending. The committee must follow the law and add independent public interest representatives dedicated to government accountability."

Unless and until Secretary Hegseth and the Department of Defense bring Project Meridian in compliance with FACA, the committee must immediately be dissolved and cease operations.

The full complaint is available to read here. For more information or to speak with an expert, contact Maddie Sell, [email protected].