Three government watchdog groups sued the Pentagon over Project Meridian, asking a federal court to halt the future-warfare technology panel’s work until it complies with federal advisory-committee requirements.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, Public Citizen, and the Project On Government Oversight filed the complaint on Nov. 2 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
The suit names the Department of Defense (DOD), Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Emil Michael as defendants. It alleges violations of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) and seeks judicial review under the Administrative Procedure Act.
Project Meridian, commissioned by Hegseth in a Sept. 30 memorandum, is a 120-day Pentagon strategic study focused on predicting the trajectory of studying future battlefields, identifying weapons and technologies that military forces may need, and proposing actions for developing, testing, and fielding those capabilities.
The memorandum directed Michael, the DOD’s chief technology officer, to lead the initiative. In a Sept. 30 speech, Hegseth named Elon Musk, founder and CEO of SpaceX, Palmer Luckey, co-founder and CEO of Anduril, and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich as co-directors.
Project Meridian’s finalized findings and recommendations are due to Hegseth by Jan. 28, 2027.
Lawsuit alleges FACA violations
The complaint alleges that DOD launched the panel without publishing notice of its creation in the Federal Register or filing a committee charter. It also alleges that the department has not published meeting notices or records, opened meetings to the public, or provided written justification for closed meetings, as required by law.
The complaint states that Project Meridian has held at least two meetings.
The watchdog groups also allege that the panel’s membership is not fairly balanced and that private-sector members have financial interests connected to the technologies Project Meridian is examining.
“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 Project on Government Oversight said in a statement.
MITRE, a federally funded research and development center, leads the initiative, according to DOD social media posts, including on LinkedIn.
In its own announcement, MITRE said Project Meridian “will draw on outside expertise from the nation’s top business leaders, policy experts, and technologists, who will meet regularly to inform the development of strategic recommendations for the Department.” The organization is accepting unclassified perspectives on the project through Nov. 12.
The plaintiffs are asking the court to vacate Hegseth’s Sept. 30 memorandum and related decisions establishing Project Meridian. They also seek an injunction preventing the panel from meeting, advising federal agencies, or conducting other committee business unless and until it complies with FACA.
The requested relief would also require the Pentagon to preserve and publicly release Project Meridian records and prevent the department from relying on recommendations produced while the panel is not in compliance with the law.
A DOD official said, “As a matter of policy, the Department does not comment on pending or ongoing litigation.”
Photo credit: Case 1:26-cv-03856 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia