Investing.com -- The Trump administration has appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a judge’s order that mandates the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), headed by Elon Musk, to answer queries and release documents about its operations.
The order was issued by U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper in Washington, D.C., who directed DOGE to provide some records to the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). Judge Cooper’s decision was based on his finding that DOGE was likely a government agency and thus subject to the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
Cooper also ruled that CREW was entitled to question DOGE’s Acting Administrator Amy Gleason during a deposition. On May 14, a federal appeals court declined to suspend Cooper’s order.
DOGE was established by President Donald Trump on January 20, the day he commenced his second term in the White House.
In a bid to secure an emergency stay from the Supreme Court, Solicitor General John Sauer claimed that Cooper’s order was "extraordinarily overbroad and intrusive" and could potentially distract DOGE from its mission to eradicate fraud, waste, and abuse within the federal government.
Sauer also labeled the order as "an untenable affront to separation of powers," arguing that the government was likely to win in proving that DOGE is a White House entity and thus exempt from FOIA, a law that permits public scrutiny of government records.
In his appeal, Sauer wrote, "This Court has rejected similar fishing expeditions into sensitive executive-branch functions, and it should not allow this one to proceed."
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