President Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency is bound by federal open-records laws, a federal judge decided Monday.
Judge Christopher Cooper also said he’s worried the DOGE isn’t keeping its records as required under the law, and he issued a preservation order to the office, officially titled the U.S. DOGE Service (USDS).
The ruling strikes at the heart of the controversial office, with Judge Cooper finding that the office has been operating in “unusual secrecy” but has been wielding significant executive authority.
“Based on its actions so far, USDS appears to have the power not just to evaluate federal programs, but to drastically reshape and even eliminate them wholesale,” he concluded.
That, he said, means the DOGE “likely qualifies as an agency for the purposes of” the Freedom of Information Act.
He ordered it to start producing records sought by the Center for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which brought the lawsuit.
The Trump White House had argued that the office was shielded from FOIA because it was only giving advice to the president, whose team was then putting it all into effect.
But Judge Cooper said the facts contradict those claims.
He ordered the DOGE to expedite CREW’s records request, saying the office’s activities are of urgent concern.
Judge Cooper, an Obama appointee to the federal court in Washington, said he’s worried the DOGE and its staff aren’t following the law in maintaining their 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,” he said.
