The Trump administration on Wednesday asked the Supreme Court to halt discovery in a lawsuit seeking access to documents and information about the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) operations.
The emergency application asks the justices to lift a judge’s order allowing limited discovery into whether DOGE is an “agency,” which would make it subject to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.
Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued in the application that DOGE, also referenced in filings as the U.S. DOGE Service (USDS), is a “presidential advisory body” within the Executive Office of the President — not an agency — and thus exempt from FOIA, which lets the public request information from the government.
“Yet the district court below ordered USDS to submit to sweeping, intrusive discovery just to determine if USDS is subject to FOIA in the first place,” Sauer wrote. “That order turns FOIA on its head, effectively giving respondent a win on the merits of its FOIA suit under the guise of figuring out whether FOIA even applies.”
The lower court’s order allowed discovery about DOGE employees and all “recommendations” it has made to various agencies, in addition to other internal documents. It also ordered a deposition of the body’s head, Amy Gleason, who is acting administrator of DOGE.
Sauer said allowing the “intrusive” discovery process to move forward might threaten the “confidentiality and candor” of DOGE’s advice to President Trump.
“Nullifying FOIA’s solicitude for presidential advisors and ordering roving discovery into their recommendations and advice represents an untenable affront to the separation of powers,” the solicitor general said.
The government’s request to the Supreme Court comes on the heels of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit’s decision last week to allow the discovery process to move forward.
A three-judge panel on the federal appeals court called the discovery “modest in scope” and noted it does not target Trump. The government can still raise privilege objections on a question-by-question basis as the process moves forward, they said.
The executive branch tech office U.S. Digital Service was overtaken by DOGE staffers earlier this year after Trump entered office. Gleason, the acting administrator of DOGE, previously worked for the tech unit.
Billionaire tech leader Elon Musk has been the face of DOGE in the early months of Trump’s presidency while serving as a special government employee. Musk has signaled recently he plans to focus more on his businesses moving forward.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed suit against DOGE in February, claiming that the public has a right to see behind the veil of its “secretive operations.” The Supreme Court requested a response from the group by Friday.
It’s one of several lawsuits designed to test the Trump administration’s argument that DOGE is not subject to FOIA requests. Dozens of other lawsuits challenge DOGE’s access to confidential systems at federal agencies.
Updated at 2:00 p.m. EDT
