WASHINGTON – Chief Justice John Roberts on May 23 temporarily paused an order requiring the Department of Government Efficiency to disclose information and answer questions about what it does.
Roberts’ brief directive gives the Supreme Court additional time to consider whether the lower court’s order is justified.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a watchdog group, wants to learn more about DOGE’s role in Trump’s efforts to dramatically downsize and reshape the federal government.
Elon Musk, who launched DOGE, has said it’s “the most transparent organization in government ever.”
But the Trump administration argues DOGE is a presidential advisory body so is exempt from the nation’s premier public disclosure law.
U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled in March that DOGE appears to have enough independent authority that it should be subject to the Freedom of Information Act.
Cooper ordered DOGE to produce by June 3 documents needed to gauge its authority. And he said CREW must be allowed to question Amy Gleason, the head of DOGE, by June 13.
The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to intervene.
The Justice Department argued Cooper’s order “turns FOIA on its head,” effectively requiring disclosure before courts have definitively said DOGE must comply with the act.
That could lead to “opening season for FOIA requests on the President’s advisors,” Solicitor General John Sauer argued in his emergency appeal.
The watchdog group responded that the administration wants the courts to “blindly yield” to its characterization of DOGE. That would give the president free reign to create entities to get around transparency laws, CREW told the Supreme Court.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Supreme Court temporarily halts disclosure of DOGE documents
