‘Remarkably swiftly’: Judge calls out ‘unusual secrecy’ of DOGE in order to hand over FOIA documents requested by watchdog group

Elon Musk jumps on the stage as Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Elon Musk jumps on the stage as Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

A federal judge in the nation’s capital has ordered the Elon Musk-led Department of Governmental Efficiency (DOGE) to hand over documents requested by a government watchdog group under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) — which the Trump administration argued did not apply to the quasi-governmental agency.

In a 37-page ruling handed down Monday in the case of government watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper found that DOGE — referred to in the ruling as the U.S. DOGE Service, or USDC — was “operating with unusual secrecy,” and that, without an order to receive the requested documents, plaintiffs would likely suffer serious harm.

At a hearing on Friday, CREW’s attorneys argued that members of Congress lacked sufficient information on DOGE, its organizational structure, funding, and the agency’s authority before they could vote on funding the government on March 14.

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