This Closer Look expands on the case description Kelsey wrote for her article on what the Trump administration wants from the Supreme Court next.
When Trump returned to the White House in January 2025, he launched the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and empowered it to “maximize governmental efficiency and productivity” by promoting technological advancements and reducing waste. DOGE’s work sparked controversy and legal battles, as watchdog groups questioned its access to Americans’ personal data and the mass layoffs that it championed.
Less than a week after DOGE was created, one such watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, filed a Freedom of Information Act request seeking internal DOGE communications, as well as messages exchanged between DOGE and federal agencies. In February 2025, the group filed a lawsuit aimed at forcing disclosure of these documents. DOGE countered that it did not qualify as a federal agency under FOIA and was therefore exempt from its requirements. In considering whether DOGE is subject to FOIA, a federal district judge in Washington granted many of CREW’s discovery requests, ordering DOGE to provide it with details about staff members and its communications with government agencies as both sides prepared their arguments about FOIA’s scope.
The federal government appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which declined to pause the judge’s order, and then to the Supreme Court on its interim docket, asking the justices to block the discovery order. U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer asserted that the order essentially forced DOGE to comply with the FOIA request. On June 6, 2025, the Supreme Court, in a 6-3 vote along ideological lines, granted a stay, holding that “separation of powers concerns counsel judicial deference and restraint in the context of discovery regarding internal Executive Branch communications.” The court sent the dispute back to the D.C. Circuit for another look.
Over the past year, both the district court and the D.C. Circuit have reconsidered the case – after CREW narrowed its discovery request – and ruled that DOGE must provide “detailed information” on current and former DOGE employees, “directives” sent by the DOGE administrator to staff members, and efforts to gain access to data held by federal agencies, among other documents.
In its petition for review in U.S. DOGE Service v. U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the Trump administration argues that the lower courts have “departed” from the Supreme Court’s June 2025 order, failing to address the separation of powers issues. It urges the justices to take up the case and address what types of discovery orders are appropriate in disputes over access to government information, contending that such legal battles are becoming more common. “[A]llowing the decision below to stand and far-reaching discovery to proceed would sow mischief in countless future cases seeking discovery against high-ranking officials,” Sauer wrote.
In its response to the petition for review, CREW asserts that the D.C. Circuit followed the Supreme Court’s June order “to the letter” when reviewing the narrower discovery request and further argues that DOGE has complied with similar discovery requests in other cases over the past year. “As a result, the government cannot claim any meaningful concerns with reproducing modest information about USDS’s structure and authority,” CREW’s brief says. The organization also contends that there is no need for the justices to address the use of discovery orders in disputes over FOIA’s scope at this time. “The government points to no conflict in the courts of appeals on the question of whether discovery is sometimes permissible,” CREW wrote.
U.S. DOGE Service v. U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia is scheduled to be considered by the justices during their “long conference” on Sept. 28.