The US Supreme Court agreed on Tuesday to hear a lawsuit seeking public records from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the government cost-cutting initiative associated with billionaire Elon Musk.
The case, brought by the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), seeks access to records related to DOGE’s activities during the early days of President Donald Trump’s second term.
The Trump administration had asked the Supreme Court to take up the case, marking the second time the high court has intervened in the legal dispute.
CREW argues that DOGE is a federal agency and should therefore be subject to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which allows the public to request government records.
The administration, however, maintains that DOGE is a presidential advisory body and is exempt from the law’s disclosure requirements.
A federal district judge ruled in favour of CREW and ordered the government to expedite processing of the group’s records request. An appeals court panel also sided with the watchdog.
The administration argued that the appeals court had failed to follow the Supreme Court’s earlier guidance on the separation of powers and had interfered with the confidentiality and independence of presidential advisers.
“Subjecting advisory bodies to intrusive discovery triggers the very concerns that Congress sought to avoid by excluding presidential advisory bodies from FOIA’s reach,” Justice Department lawyers wrote in court filings.
The administration also challenged the appeals court’s decision allowing CREW to seek a sworn deposition from DOGE acting administrator Amy Gleason.
CREW maintains that the appeals court complied with the Supreme Court’s previous instructions and that the public has a right to know how DOGE helped the administration pursue a sweeping overhaul of federal government operations in 2025.
The group’s lawyers argued that public records, including statements by Trump, showed that DOGE exercised substantial independent authority across the federal government.
In a statement on Tuesday, CREW attorney Nikhel Sus said lower courts had consistently supported the group’s right to obtain records that could help establish whether DOGE exercised authority that would bring it under FOIA.
“We will continue to pursue transparency for the American people, who deserve to know the details of the Trump Administration’s efforts to unilaterally remake the federal government,” Sus said.