CREW requests records on DOGE

In November 2024, President-elect Donald Trump announced the formation of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), with Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy slated to lead it. DOGE was created to “pave the way for [Trump’s] Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies.” Upon taking office on January 20, 2025, President Trump issued an executive order reorganizing and renaming the United States Digital Service as the United States DOGE Service within the Executive Office of the President. According to Office of Management and Budget records, the Trump Administration has apportioned over $41 million in taxpayer funds to DOGE.

However, DOGE continues to operate  seemingly unchecked, with no clarity on its structure, staffing, budget or operations, including whether it is following federal ethics and transparency laws or even acting within its legal authority. Questions also abound about Elon Musk’s role as the leader of DOGE. Trump announced that Musk, who has more than $3 billion in federal contracts and is reportedly working in the building next to the West Wing of the White House and using a White House email address, despite not having officially been named the administrator of the U.S. DOGE Service, would lead it.

The American public deserves to know what U.S. DOGE Service is, what it is doing and whether its actions, which could have an enormous effect on the American public, comply with the law. CREW has sued to force DOGE to abide by the Federal Advisory Committee Act or cease operating, has filed multiple Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to gain insight into DOGE’s operations. Below is a summary of the FOIAs CREW has filed to date on DOGE-related matters:

In December 2024, CREW requested records from 62 government agencies, agency components and agency inspectors general pertaining to any communications that Musk, Ramaswamy or other individuals reportedly involved in DOGE had with agency employees. The requests also seek records pertaining to anyone who has an association with DOGE or the so-called “Delivering Outstanding Government Efficiency” Caucus, a group established within Congress which plans to collaborate with DOGE. The agencies CREW requested records from include the Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense, Department of Health and Human Services, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, FEMA, the EPA, the FDA, the IRS and others.

In January 2025, CREW made expedited requests for records from the U.S. DOGE Service and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) related to communications between U.S. DOGE Service personnel and the Trump-Vance transition team, changes to U.S. DOGE Service operations and employment policies, the U.S. DOGE Service’s legal authority, U.S. DOGE Service’s work alongside other federal agencies and Congress and ethics commitments and financial disclosures by its personnel.

Following notice from OMB and U.S. DOGE Service that they’d grant expedited processing of CREW’s request, but “not guarantee” that it would be “completed by a date certain,” CREW wrote a letter to OMB and U.S. DOGE Service requesting that they process the expedited request before March 1, given the impending government shutdown if Congress does not pass a budget on March 14. It is in the public’s best interest to release the records before then, so that they know if DOGE is impacting federal spending practices before new appropriations are enacted, and can engage in the debates about whether and how the U.S. DOGE Service should be funded by the federal government.

Following public reporting in January 2025 that the U.S. DOGE Service allegedly attempted to exert pressure on federal judges, through the United States Marshals Service, to speed up the release of pardoned criminals and criminal defendants who were convicted or arrested for their roles in the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol, CREW filed a FOIA on communications between the U.S. Marshals Service and employees of U.S. DOGE Service. In addition, the FOIA seeks records related to acting U.S. Marshal for the District of Columbia Ron Carter’s visits to judicial chambers in the E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse, including communications related to the pardons or release of January 6th insurrectionists. 

On February 7, 2025 CREW requested records from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) related to USAID’s potential restructuring or closing, including communications between USAID and DOGE, communications about integrating USAID into the State Department and communications from the U.S. Marshals Service concerning any removals of persons from USAID facilities and offices. The public has an interest in understanding the current state of USAID, the process of its attempted shutdown, to what extent DOGE and Musk were involved in that process and whether any DOGE employees accessed classified information without the required security clearance.

On March 5, CREW requested records from the Department of Commerce and the State Department related to Musk’s meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and communications that mention Musk in writings about presidential meetings with foreign delegations or heads of state. 

Elon Musk met with Prime Minister Modi on February 13, reportedly discussing issues regarding space, mobility, technology and innovation. In his official capacity, the White House says Musk serves as President Trump’s Senior Advisor, but in his personal capacity, Musk appears to be a key link between foreign heads of state and SpaceX, the parent company of Starlink—both of which are owned by Musk. Given that Starlink reportedly had a licensing application under review by the Indian government, there are concerns of conflicts of interest surrounding Musk’s meeting with Modi and the capacity in which he spoke with Modi about government business. The public has a strong interest in knowing if Musk met with Modi in his official capacity and if Musk has had similar meetings with other heads of state.

Given recent reports indicating that DOGE employees and other government officials are using unofficial channels to communicate, CREW requested NARA records related to the monitoring, deletion and preservation of federal records created on Truth Social and X, including direct messages, related to Elon Musk, the US DOGE Service and members of the agency. CREW also requested records on the use of auto-deleting messaging apps like Signal by OMB, Musk, the US DOGE Service and members of the agency.

Communications on social media platforms and non-governmental messaging apps could violate the Federal Records Act without appropriate preservation methods in place.

On December 17, 2024, The New York Times reported that Elon Musk and his company SpaceX had failed to comply with federal reporting requirements designed to protect state secrets. The matter prompted three reviews by the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General, Air Force and Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security regarding Elon Musk and SpaceX’s alleged noncompliance with federal reporting protocols. Following news that Musk had been in regular contact with Vladimir Putin since late 2022, DOD IG Robert Storch and U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland were urged to investigate Musk’s involvement in SpaceX’s contracts with the defense and intelligence community. Storch was subsequently fired along with 17 other inspectors general when Trump took office, and it remains unclear if that effectively shuttered the IG investigation.

CREW requested records related to communications and investigations that occurred within the three offices about Elon Musk or his businesses. Musk’s companies have benefitted from billions of dollars in federal government contracts while Musk himself is the de-facto head of DOGE, which has become involved with a multitude of government agencies and organizations. It is important that the public have access to information on Musk’s potential conflicts of interest and any reviews into Musk and SpaceX’s compliance with reporting requirements.

CREW made an expedited request for records relating to OMB’s apportionment of federal funds to DOGE. Since the inauguration, OMB has apportioned over $41 million to a new “United States DOGE Service” account, citing the Economy Act as a funding source despite Congress not having appropriated any funding specifically for DOGE or providing any authority for DOGE to act. Given that DOGE has conducted substantial and widespread activities without congressional authorization, the public has a significant interest in knowing how the administration is funding DOGE’s operations.

CREW also made an expedited request for records related to the removal of OMB’s apportionment website, which appears to violate the law requiring that OMB publicly post apportionment documents.

CREW requested records relating to the lease cancellation process of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Washington, D.C. headquarters, as well as a list of all CFPB personnel placed on administrative leave by the Trump administration. CFPB personnel protect individual consumers and supervise the broader financial system using taxpayer funds. However, they have been barred from working on behalf of the taxpayer and performing their duties at the CFPB D.C. headquarters since Acting CFPB Director Russ Vought instructed employees to cease operations in February 2025.