Trump Admin Argues DOGE Is Exempt From Records Requests in FOIA Lawsuit
Elon Musk promised "maximum transparency," but that apparently doesn't include Freedom of Information requests to DOGE.
In response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit, the Trump administration is arguing that its much-hyped Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is exempt from public records requests.
Justice Department lawyers stated in a court filing Thursday that DOGE is no longer subject to FOIA requests after President Donald Trump issued an executive order in January moving DOGE, formerly U.S. Digital Services (USDS), out of the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB). OMB is subject to the public record law, unlike most of the offices and agencies within the Executive Office of the President.
"After January 20, 2025, USDS moved out of OMB and became a free-standing component of [the Executive Office of the President] that reports to the White House Chief of Staff," the government's motion stated in a footnote. "As a result, USDS is not subject to FOIA."
That filing was in response to a FOIA lawsuit filed last week by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a government accountability group. CREW filed several sweeping public records requests for documents from OMB and DOGE, and it is suing to compel the production and release of its requests.
"The law is clear about how government records should be preserved so that, when the public requests them, they are easily and readily accessible. If the administration valued transparency, following records laws would be a priority," CREW President Noah Bookbinder said in a press release announcing CREW's FOIA lawsuit. "Instead, US DOGE Service and OMB are acting as though the law does not apply to them. It does."
The Trump administration's claim runs contrary to Trump and Elon Musk's promises and stated goals of delivering open, transparent government to the public.
"All aspects of the government must be fully transparent and accountable to the people," Musk posted on X earlier this month. "No exceptions, including, if not especially, the Federal Reserve."
At a White House press conference earlier this month, Musk said, "We are actually trying to be as transparent as possible, so all of our actions are maximally transparent. I don't know of a case where an organization has been more transparent than the DOGE organization."
And again, Musk declared last November: "There should be no need for FOIA requests. All government data should be default public for maximum transparency."
But DOGE has struggled to make its data public while also claiming exemption from FOIA, which is a recipe for maximum opacity, not transparency.
Between the shifting claims of how much taxpayer money DOGE was going to save, the release and quiet deletion of error-filled data, and now attempts to hide DOGE from public record laws—well, it doesn't inspire confidence.
The New York Times reported today on the genesis and behind-the-scenes implementation of DOGE's attempt to radically downsize the federal government. The story includes an anecdote on how Musk rejected the shabby West Wing office the Trump administration tried to set him up in, and instead moved into a gilded suite in the Eisenhower Executive Building.
"There, he installed a gaming computer with a giant, curved screen and blinking LED lights, and decorated his desk with a DOGE sign and a MAGA hat," the Times reported. "He also had a DOGE T-shirt emblazoned with a quote from one of his favorite movies, 'Office Space': 'What would you say you do here?'"
If Musk wants to be taken seriously, DOGE can start living up to his rhetoric on opening the books. If not, he can keep playing computer games inside his fancy office and ordering custom T-shirts for himself, while transparency advocates conclude that his interest in open government is, like his claims of being an elite gamer, so much bluster.
