Judge Orders DOGE to Release Records

Federal District Court Judge Christopher Cooper ruled the “unprecedented” power of DOGE and its “unusual secrecy” justify urgent release of its internal documents.

Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” is a subset of a White House IT team formally called the U.S. Digital Service. A President cannot create a government department without Congressional approval, but Musk needed an organization inside government to wreak havoc within government agencies.

Most teams in the Executive Office of the President are exempt from the Freedom of Information Act. Some that exert independent authority are covered by FOIA. Cooper noted that DOGE is doing far more than an advisory role.

Cooper wrote, “The authority exercised by USDS across the federal government and the dramatic cuts it has apparently made with no congressional input appear to be unprecedented.” He further wrote, “The rapid pace of [DOGE’s] actions, in turn, requires the quick release of information about its structure and activities. That is especially so given the secrecy with which DOGE has operated.”

Saying Congress and the public urgently need to know what DOGE is doing, Cooper ordered “rolling” productions of records from DOGE to start in a matter of weeks.

Cooper is hearing a lawsuit filed by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington to compel DOGE to comply with the Federal Records Act and Freedom of Information Act.

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