CREW sues US DOGE Service to compel transparency

A cadre of largely unidentified actors in the so-called Department of Government Efficiency are controlling major government functions with no oversight or meaningful transparency into its operations, according to a lawsuit filed today by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. CREW sued to require compliance with key records laws and is asking that requested United States DOGE Service records be released no later than March 10, 2025. 

Federal law requires that US DOGE Service disclose its records under the Freedom of Information Act and preserve its records under the Federal Records Act. USDS, its unknown administrator, Elon Musk, the Office of Management and Budget and OMB Director Russell Vought, the National Archives, and Acting Archivist Marco Rubio have refused to comply with CREW’s FOIA requests and repeated demands for records preservation under the FRA, and therefore must be compelled to do so by the court.

“The law is clear about how government records should be preserved so that, when the public requests them, they are easily and readily accessible. If the administration valued transparency, following records laws would be a priority,” said CREW President Noah Bookbinder. “Instead, US DOGE Service and OMB are acting as though the law does not apply to them. It does.”

US DOGE Service wields shockingly broad power over all manner of federal operations—which far exceeds its limited legal authority. In just four weeks, USDS has executed a potentially unlawful plan to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, taken credit for the cancellation of billions of dollars in federal contracts, secured potentially illegal access to systems containing highly restricted and confidential data and enlisted and claimed authority to summon federal law enforcement. 

The American people have a right to know how USDS is managing their tax dollars and their data, how it is exercising its authority to influence government operations and the extent to which it is operating outside of its slim legal mandate. And they have a right to know that information about USDS, which was created to make extreme cuts to the government at all costs, before Congress must decide how to fund the government when current funding ends on March 14.

“Following records retention and release laws is especially important for a non-congressionally created agency wielding unprecedented power over funding that affects the lives of the American people every day, and touches our international efforts as well,” said Bookbinder. “Preserving and releasing records is not an option, but a necessity, and the Trump administration should welcome compliance with these laws to shine a light on work they have touted and provide the ‘maximum transparency’ that was promised. We will not relent in our efforts to make these documents public.” 

CREW requested records related to communications between OMB staffers and individuals who became affiliated with DOGE before the inauguration, changes to the operations of the U.S. Digital Service, organizational charts and financial disclosures, and USDS’s communications with federal agencies, which USDS and the other plaintiffs have so far failed to turn over. CREW is suing to force OMB and USDS—and their leaders—to promptly disclose the requested records, to preserve all records until the court decides the case  and to initiate enforcement action to recover any lost USDS records.

On March 10, 2025 a federal judge ruled that the US DOGE Service is likely subject to FOIA and issued a preliminary injunction ordering DOGE to begin expedited processing of CREW’s FOIA requests to DOGE and to preserve all documents until CREW’s lawsuit against DOGE is resolved. On March 20, 2025 the judge denied DOGE’s motion to reconsider his ruling and modify or rescind his order.

On March 27, CREW filed a motion for expedited discovery from DOGE and the DOGE Administrator, requesting documents, answers to written discovery and depositions of DOGE, Amy Gleason and Steve Davis, in order to respond to DOGE’s motion for summary judgment.

On April 15, the district court granted CREW’s motion for expedited discovery with only slight modifications, requiring DOGE to respond to virtually all of CREW’s written discovery requests and ordering the depositions of Amy Gleason and DOGE to go forward. 

On April 18, the government filed an emergency appeal of the district court’s discovery order with the DC Circuit Court of Appeals. It asked the DC Circuit to issue a writ of mandamus to stop all discovery.  The DC Circuit temporarily stayed the discovery order until it could reach a decision. 

On May 14, after CREW had the opportunity to oppose the emergency appeal, a three-judge panel of the DC Circuit that included both Republican and Democratic appointees unanimously denied it.  On May 20, the district court again ordered that discovery get underway.

On May 20, the government filed an emergency appeal of the DC Circuit’s ruling and the district court’s discovery order to the Supreme Court.  On June 6, the Supreme Court ruled that portions of the discovery order regarding DOGE’s recommendations to agencies had to be narrowed, but left the rest of the discovery order intact. It sent the government’s appeal back to the DC Circuit and stayed discovery until the DC Circuit modified the discovery and the government had an opportunity to file a new appeal, if necessary. 

On June 18, CREW filed a motion with the DC Circuit that removed the discovery requests that the Supreme Court said should be narrowed and asked the DC Circuit to otherwise deny the government’s ongoing appeal. On July 14, the DC Circuit granted CREW’s motion. Under the order issued by the Supreme Court on June 6, discovery is stayed while the government decides whether it will file another appeal to the Supreme Court.