Judge rules DOGE likely subject to public records requests, says department operating in 'unusual secrecy'
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DOGE's 'operations thus far have been marked by unusual secrecy,' Judge Christopher Cooper wrote
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By   
  
Published March 11, 2025 6:33am EDT

The Department of Government Efficiency, led by , is likely subject to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), a federal judge ruled Monday, noting that the newly formed department had been run in "unusual secrecy."

U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper, an Obama appointee, sided with the government watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in rejecting the  argument that DOGE does not have to respond to public records requests.

Cooper ruled that DOGE exercises "substantial independent authority" much greater than the other parts of the executive office that are usually exempt from the FOIA law.

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The ruling could force DOGE to become more transparent about its role in the administration's mass firings of the federal workforce, as well as its dismantling of government agencies and decisions to cancel contracts.

"Canceling any government contract would seem to require substantial authority—and canceling them on this scale certainly does," Cooper wrote.

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