The Trump administration has asked the U.S. Supreme Court for an emergency injunction to block proceedings in a case involving a Freedom of Information request seeking information from the Department of Government Efficiency.
The government watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington sued the budget-slashing agency earlier this year for public access to its records and its plans for overhauling the government.
The administration has claimed executive privilege, insisting that DOGE — as a presidential advisory board — is not subject to FOIA.
A federal court hearing the case is scheduled to proceed with depositions and document production as part of a hearing to determine whether FOIA applies.
Solicitor General John Sauer told the court that such an effort defeats the purpose of the litigation and effectively would expose private executive branch information.
The Supreme Court is seen in Washington, Jan. 10, 2025.
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
A representative of CREW, responding to the administration’s request for an injunction, said in a statement, “While DOGE continues to attempt to fight transparency at every level of justice, we look forward to making our case that the Supreme Court should join the District Court and Court of Appeals in allowing discovery to go forward.”
A federal judge in March determined that DOGE likely should be subject to the Freedom of Information Act.
U.S. District Judge Chris Cooper ruled that President Donald Trump’s executive orders, his public statements about DOGE, and the agency’s “substantial authority over vast swathes of the federal government” were enough to determine that DOGE likely should be subject to FOIA, which gives media organizations and the public the right to access records from the federal government.
ABC News’ Peter Charalambous contributed to this report.
