DOGE Isn't Exempt From FOIA Requests, Judge Rules
The judge found that the agency's "unusual secrecy" and "substantial authority" make it subject to public record laws.
Citing the agency's "unusual secrecy" and "substantial authority over vast swathes of the federal government," a federal judge ruled Monday that Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is likely subject to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and must respond to public records requests from a watchdog group.
U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper issued an opinion and preliminary injunction finding that Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a traditionally left-leaning government watchdog group, was likely to prevail on its claims that DOGE was covered by FOIA and is entitled to expedited processing of three requests for records from the agency, formerly the U.S. Digital Service (USDS).
Although Musk, a close adviser to President Donald Trump, has repeatedly said in social media posts and statements to press that DOGE is "maximally transparent," the White House moved the cost-cutting agency from the Office of Management and Budget and placed it under the umbrella of the Executive Office of the President, which is largely exempt from FOIA requests.
CREW filed a FOIA lawsuit in February seeking to compel DOGE to comply with its records requests. In response, lawyers for the U.S. government argued that the agency was no longer subject to the transparency law.
However, Cooper disagreed, citing numerous media reports that described the vast, independent power wielded by DOGE, as well as the intense public interest in the agency's operations.
"Congress needs the requested information in a timely fashion to use it effectively," Cooper wrote. "The electorate also requires the expeditious production and publication of this information. Voters may seek to influence congressional representatives to take action responsive to USDS at any point along the road. And '[t]he dissemination of information' sought by CREW would contribute 'to an informed electorate capable of developing knowledgeable opinions and sharing those knowledgeable opinions with their elected leaders.'"
"The public would be irreparably harmed by an indefinite delay in unearthing the records CREW seeks," Cooper concluded.
Cooper also ordered DOGE to preserve the records at issue, noting with a certain amount of judicial restraint that DOGE staffers "may not fully appreciate their obligations to preserve federal records."
The order is a victory for CREW, although Cooper did not grant the group's request to force DOGE to produce documents before Congress faces a looming government shutdown.
"Now more than ever, Americans deserve transparency in their government," CREW Executive Director and Chief Counsel Donald Sherman said in a press release. "Despite efforts and claims to the contrary, the government cannot hide the actions of the US DOGE Service. We look forward to the expedited processing of our requests and making all the DOGE documents public."
DOGE's stated goal of opening the operations of the federal government to public scrutiny is admirable and much-needed, but it will fail if it can't show the public it's willing to practice what it preaches. Cooper's order should be a wake-up call to the Trump administration that it won't be able to coast on empty promises of transparency for long.
