Washington DC - Democrats announced a new platform for whistleblowers Monday as they launched the latest front in their rearguard against efforts by President Donald Trump's "efficiency czar" Elon Musk to gut federal spending.

Announcing an online portal to report potential law-breaking, they said whistleblowers would be "invaluable" to the mission of holding to account those undermining democracy.

"In the first three weeks of his administration, President Trump has shown a blatant disregard for the rule of law and a callousness for the American people," Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said in a joint statement with a lieutenant, Gary Peters.

"From the DOGE takeover of the Treasury Department to the federal funding freeze, this administration has wreaked havoc on programs that American families, seniors, students, veterans, and others have come to depend upon."

Celebrities Richard Gere torches Trump as "bully" and "thug" in scathing remarks on US politics

Musk, with Trump's blessing, has been working his way through the federal government – from the Treasury to the US Agency for International Development – accessing computer systems to identify fraud and waste while laying off workers.

Critics say much of the action is unlawful, flouting the oversight role given to Congress by the US Constitution, and have launched lawsuits across the country to halt Musk's self-styled Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

They point out that Musk has massive conflicts of interest as the largest government contractor and is not elected or Senate-confirmed, despite his deputies being granted access to the sensitive personal data of millions of federal employees.

USAID was investigating its relationship with Musk's communications company Starlink just months before he attempted to shut the agency down, according to US media reports.