Elon Musk’s DOGE Must Comply With Public Records Requests, US Judge Says

A federal judge ruled that Elon Musk's government efficiency project must comply with records demands from a public interest group, rejecting the administration's position that the office created by President Donald Trump is exempt from a US transparency law.

The decision on Monday from US District Judge Christopher Cooper, the first of its kind since Trump took office, would mean that the Department of Government Efficiency is required to disclose emails, memos, notes and other internal records about its operations, staff and structure. He also ordered DOGE to preserve records that might be responsive to the requests at issue.

Cooper wrote that the government watchdog group that sued was likely to succeed in proving that the US DOGE Service “wields the requisite substantial independent authority” to fall under the federal Freedom of Information Act.

The judge cited DOGE's public claims of credit for deep cuts to federal spending, its access to sensitive agency records and statements by Trump and Musk as evidence of the power DOGE is exercising across the US government. The judge described one social media post by Musk as “boasting” about his role: “We spent the weekend feeding USAID into the wood chipper,” Musk wrote in February.

In ordering DOGE to preserve its records, the judge noted news reports about DOGE staffers using the encrypted messaging app Signal and the apparent secrecy surrounding who worked for DOGE, as well as the fact that the Justice Department hadn't given him a formal assurance that the office is maintaining records. He wrote there was evidence that DOGE representatives “may not fully appreciate their obligations to preserve federal records.”

“This is especially true for USDS, many of whose staffers are reported to have joined the federal government only recently and, to put it charitably, may not be steeped in its document retention policies,” the judge wrote.

The case involves requests by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington for records from the Office of Management and Budget — which the administration agreed is covered by the records law — as well as the DOGE office that Trump created within the executive branch through a Jan. 20 order. They sought communications between Musk and DOGE-affiliated employees and other personnel across US agencies and documents showing DOGE's structure, personnel and operations.

CREW's executive director Donald Sherman welcomed the ruling.

“Now more than ever, Americans deserve transparency in their government. 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,” Sherman said in a statement.

A Justice Department spokesperson didn't immediately respond to a request for comment after regular business hours.

Freedom of Information

The Trump administration has disputed that the US DOGE Service is covered by the Freedom of Information Act. The records law gives the public the right to see documents and demand information from federal agencies across the executive branch, but there are carve-outs for certain offices within the White House that serve an advisory role.

CREW had pushed to get at least some of the information by the time Congress was back in session on March 10. The organization argued there's a time-sensitive need for records about DOGE's size and structure and its influence on US agency operations as lawmakers debate a federal budget; the most recent funding legislation expires on March 14.

The judge ordered DOGE to put the records requests on a fast track, but denied CREW's request to get the documents as soon as it wanted. He said the government had to file a report by March 20 with an estimate for the number of documents responsive to CREW's requests.

The speed, secrecy and broad authority exercised by DOGE to carry out spending cuts “apparently made with no congressional input appears to be unprecedented,” the judge wrote. “A years-long delay in processing” the records requests “would cause irreparable harm.”