DOGE Tells American Oversight Its Records Are Not Subject to FOIA, Contradicting Judge’s Recent Ruling

Despite a recent ruling in federal court, the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has told American Oversight that it still believes it is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The office’s claim means that important public records that could provide information about DOGE’s actions are at risk of being destroyed before the American people can see them.

Last week, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper issued a preliminary ruling in a FOIA lawsuit brought by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington finding that DOGE is likely covered by FOIA, rejecting the Trump administration’s claims that DOGE is merely an advisory entity for the president. But just two days later, DOGE said in an email to American Oversight that it was declining our FOIA requests — also the subject of litigation — because it was purportedly not subject to FOIA.

The revelations about DOGE’s continued efforts to skirt transparency were made public in American Oversight’s ongoing lawsuit against the entity, which has asked the court for an extension of 30 days to reply to our complaint. As American Oversight outlines in its opposition to granting an extension, filed on Friday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, DOGE maintains that its records are instead subject to the Presidential Records Act, which provides far fewer guardrails for ensuring records are preserved, and would allow President Trump unreviewable discretion to order destruction of records. When the government requested the extension, American Oversight sought — but failed — to obtain DOGE’s agreement for a court order to preserve records that may be responsive to American Oversight’s FOIA requests.

Not only would an extension heighten the risk that valuable public records are destroyed, such a delay would also deny the American people the information they urgently need about DOGE’s structure, leadership, and far-reaching actions, including its potential involvement in President Trump’s mass firing of independent inspectors general. As American Oversight interim Executive Director Chioma Chukwu stated last week following Judge Cooper’s ruling, “Americans have the right to timely access to the truth about the Trump administration’s reckless and haphazard push to slash essential services that millions of Americans rely on and to gain access to highly sensitive information on millions more without clear guardrails to prevent abuse.”