Supreme Court Agrees to Hear DOGE Records Case on Agency Status and Disclosure

The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear the Trump administration’s appeal in a lawsuit seeking records from the U.S. DOGE Service. The case, brought by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, centers on whether DOGE operated as a federal agency subject to the Freedom of Information Act or as an exempt presidential advisory body.

CREW filed a FOIA request and later sued after the government declined to process it. A district judge ordered expedited processing and certain discovery, including information on DOGE’s structure, directives related to contract cancellations and firings, and a deposition of acting administrator Amy Gleason. An appeals court largely upheld the remaining discovery after the Supreme Court previously narrowed an earlier order.

The administration argues that further discovery would burden presidential advisers and that DOGE did not exercise independent authority sufficient to qualify as an “agency” under FOIA. CREW maintains the public has a right to know how the effort, associated with Elon Musk, directed changes across federal agencies in early 2025. The high court is intervening in the case for a second time; arguments are expected early next year with a decision by summer 2027.

SCOTUSblog and the Associated Press reported the grant. The case is U.S. DOGE Service v. U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.