A White House advisory council on infrastructure has been sued by the non-profit group Food & Water Watch, claiming a lack of public transparency at the council and related agency heads at the Department of Transportation and Department of Commerce.
In addition to asking that the council be found in violation of a law governing federal advisory committees, the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Washington on July 25 is seeking to have any related decisions made by the council or the agencies declared invalid.
The Federal Advisory Committee Act governs public access and disclosure of federal advisory committees, but Mr. Trump's infrastructure council has not been subject to it. Mr. Trump issued an executive order July 19 creating the Presidential Advisory Council on Infrastructure, which Food & Water Watch also wants the court to hold subject to the FACA.
The non-profit group is critical of President Donald Trump's appointments to the infrastructure council, which is led by real estate developers Richard LeFrak and Steven Roth.
Food & Water Watch Executive Director Wenonah Hauter said in a statement that Mr. Trump's infrastructure commitment "is nothing more than a massive corporate giveaway and a blueprint for selling American water systems, bridges, and roads to the highest bidder."
Calls to the White House were not returned at press time.