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The Trump administration has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to halt lower court orders requiring the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to release internal documents.
The request follows a lawsuit filed by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW).
The administration contends that DOGE functions as a presidential advisory body within the Executive Office of the President and is therefore exempt from the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued that the lower court’s discovery orders are “extraordinarily overbroad and intrusive,” asserting that they infringe upon executive confidentiality and the separation of powers.
U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper previously ruled that DOGE likely possesses independent authority, citing its involvement in significant actions such as dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development and canceling substantial government contracts. Cooper’s order mandates that DOGE comply with document production by June 3 and that Gleason’s deposition occur by June 13.
Sauer contended that Judge Christopher Cooper’s rulings infringe on the constitutional principle of separation of powers and jeopardize the confidentiality of advice given to the president.
Cooper and others have expressed concern that DOGE has deliberately concealed its internal operations, potentially as a strategy to avoid legal accountability while rapidly advancing initiatives to overhaul the federal workforce and eliminate programs opposed by the Trump administration.
Federal courts have restricted DOGE’s access to critical government systems at agencies including the U.S. Treasury, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Social Security Administration, and the U.S. Agency for International Development. On Monday, a judge ruled that DOGE’s assumption of control over the U.S. Institute of Peace was unlawful and declared the move invalid. However, the organization’s internal structure and leadership lack a clear definition.
“Canceling any government contract would seem to require substantial authority — and canceling them on this scale certainly does. Again, USDS reportedly is leading the charge on these actions, not merely advising others to carry them out,” Cooper wrote in a March decision, CBS News reported.
