Chief Justice John Roberts on Friday granted a temporary reprieve to Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), halting lower court orders that would have compelled the agency to release operational records to the public.
The pause follows an emergency appeal filed by the Trump administration in response to a lawsuit brought by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a government watchdog group, AP reported. The core of the dispute centers on whether DOGE qualifies as a federal agency and is thus subject to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) or whether it functions solely as a presidential advisory body.
CREW argues that DOGE, a key player in President Donald Trump’s effort to overhaul the federal government, exerts significant influence behind the scenes and therefore must be held to transparency standards under FOIA. In its February lawsuit, the organization stated DOGE “wields shockingly broad power” without offering any public insight into its operations.
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U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper sided with CREW, observing that DOGE appears to operate far beyond the scope of a typical advisory group.
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He cited claims that it played a pivotal role in dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and slashing billions from federal contracts. Cooper ordered the agency to hand over relevant documents and required acting DOGE administrator Amy Gleason to testify under oath by June 13.
However, the Trump administration challenged the order, maintaining that DOGE’s role is merely consultative and therefore exempt from FOIA. “DOGE is just a presidential advisory body aimed at rooting out waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government,” officials argued.
In the appeal, Solicitor General Dean John Sauer criticized the lower court’s decision, calling the requirements “extraordinarily overbroad and intrusive.”
This case adds to a growing list of emergency legal battles that have reached the Supreme Court as Trump continues to push forward with sweeping changes to the executive branch.
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