American Oversight Sues More Than 20 Federal Agencies for Withholding Records on Secretive DOGE Teams
Officials are exercising sweeping authority to execute Trump’s DOGE agenda — and American Oversight is demanding transparency.
On Wednesday, nonprofit watchdog American Oversight filed an expansive set of lawsuits against more than 20 federal agencies for failing to release records about groups of Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) employees who have been installed across the federal government under a controversial executive order issued by President Trump earlier this year.
The three lawsuits, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, seek records identifying the names and titles of individuals serving on agency DOGE teams, which have reportedly been exercising extraordinary and unprecedented authority over hiring, firing, contracting, and access to sensitive data systems.
In addition to the lawsuits, American Oversight also released the names of several previously unidentified DOGE-affiliated individuals working in federal agencies, whose affiliations were obtained through earlier Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.
“These secretive DOGE teams are a direct threat to democratic governance,” said Chioma Chukwu, Executive Director of American Oversight. “With virtually no public accountability, the Trump administration has handed sweeping power to a shadow army of often unqualified political loyalists — individuals empowered to fire civil servants who keep us safe, to dismantle public services on which millions rely, and to take control of sensitive systems housing our personal data. The American people deserve to know who these individuals are and what they’re doing with the unchecked authority they’ve been given.”
The lawsuits name as defendants the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, the Treasury, Commerce, Defense, Energy, Education, Homeland Security, State, Transportation, and others, as well as agencies like the Internal Revenue Service, Securities and Exchange Commission, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and Office of Management and Budget. Although multiple agencies have acknowledged American Oversight’s FOIA requests, the vast majority have failed to comply with their FOIA obligation to notify the watchdog of what records will be produced, nor have they produced a single responsive record.
Despite Elon Musk’s earlier departure from DOGE — ostensibly ending his controversial tenure, though the White House has never clarified Trump’s insistence that Musk is “really not leaving” — the entity’s reach and influence remain alarming. In just a few months, DOGE teams within agencies have reportedly fired thousands of federal employees responsible for critical government services, terminated leases, and taken control of major federal IT systems. Yet despite its sweeping authority, the Trump administration has refused to release even the most basic information about the people running the show — many of whom, records suggest, are young ideologues with ties to Elon Musk–owned companies or Republican political operatives.
The lawsuits follow multiple efforts by American Oversight and others to force DOGE and its affiliated entities to comply with federal transparency laws, including FOIA. The White House’s recent budget request seeks to dramatically expand DOGE operations, making transparency all the more urgent.