DOGE Transparency Foia Lawsuits

DOGE Transparency Foia Lawsuits

DOGE Transparency Foia Lawsuits Lawsuits, politicians and a court order are forcing Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency to open up.

A new lawsuit filed Thursday will seek to force DOGE to comply with the transparency laws that cover much of the government.

The lawsuit, brought by the Center for Biological Diversity, a non-profit aimed at advocating for threatened and endangered species, claims the Office of Management and Budget has not adequately answered inquiries into DOGE’s activity under the Freedom of Information Act, which tends to require federal records be made public upon request.

While DOGE has been the subject of over 20 lawsuits, the Center for Biological Diversity case appears to be the first to ask DOGE to comply with federal transparency laws. OMB and DOGE representatives declined to comment in response to emails.

DOGE Transparency Foia Lawsuits Under FOIA, the federal records can be asked for by anyone except when there are exceptions like when the information is classified. Due to the fact that the agencies have years or months and sometimes even the filers of FOIA wait for the government to act, they file a suit.

The Center for Biological Diversity lawsuit alleges that since DOGE is intentionally rushing to reduce government spending and personnel, and its actions will have impacts on the environment (the Environmental Protection Agency has stated DOGE assisted it with making deep reductions, for example), it’s important to find out more about how DOGE works.

“FOIA was passed to ensure that massive and significant projects such as this are not undertaken without transparency. That is what is occurring, however, as Defendants are committing wholesale disregard of FOIA’s pro-disclosure policy,” the lawsuit says.

“In light of the robust protections of air and water, wildlife and nature, climate, public lands, and the environment as a whole implemented through federal staff and laws, the Center and its members have a vested interest in, and are affected by, how any stated mission for DOGE and related activities could damage, undermine, or negate the Center’s decades-long efforts to protect the environment and habitability of our world,” it says.

DOGE Transparency Foia Lawsuits Democracy Forward also sued the Trump administration for withholding access to public documents relating to its attacks on civil service and equity programs.

Aside from Elon Musk’s reported “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE), the Trump-Vance regime has launched sweeping measures to eliminate federal equity programs, end career civil servants, and apply a partisan loyalty test across government agencies. In line with this, OPM released guidance to agencies on enforcing Trump’s executive order to eliminate all federal diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) programs.

Despite the statutory obligation under FOIA, OPM has refused to disclose public records of these activities. On January 24th, we submitted an information request for:

• Planned shut down of DEIA offices, mass termination, and cancellation of DEIA-related contracts and training.
• Messages submitted to the administration’s “DEIA Truth” hotline and materials provided by federal agencies.
• Instructions issued by the White House and the Domestic Office of Government Engagement (DOGE) to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).
• OPM Chief of Staff Amanda Scales‘ calendar entries and emails as a former executive at Musk.

related article: https://dogscaredaily.blog/doge-transparency-foia-lawsuits/

Although OPM did admit receiving the request, it abruptly stopped responding and failed to reply within the legal time limit to provide the records.

We have also gone to court, filing in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to compel the Trump administration to produce these public documents. The lawsuit is the first of its kind to be brought by Democracy Forward as part of a broader effort to expose the administration’s secretive and chaotic policymaking.

Lawsuit against the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

DOGE Transparency Foia Lawsuits We sued the Trump administration for refusing to make public records regarding Memorandum M-25-13, which directed agencies to suspend or freeze nearly all federal financial assistance.

The administration has failed to produce documents responsive to these requests, violating federal law and stonewalling the American people.

What’s At Stake?

DOGE Transparency Foia Lawsuits It is not for the government to decide whether it comes under FOIA or not. Such a legal test would undermine the purpose of FOIA and other transparency legislation.

This transparency law has always been applied depending on what a government agency was doing, not on what the government says.

Accepting the government’s interpretation would make it possible and also invite presidents to create more organizations such as DOGE that can operate inside a black box and be exempt from transparency laws.

DOGE Transparency Foia Lawsuits DOGE, a government organization created by the Trump administration and led by Elon Musk, was tasked with implementing initiatives to, as described by President Trump, “dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies.” DOGE has succeeded in doing that, and then some. There were reports that the budget cuts spearheaded by Musk obliterated whole government agencies, such as the U.S. Agency for International Development. Images of Musk using a chainsaw to symbolize what he would do to the federal bureaucracy are indicative of his style.

Due to the power exercised by DOGE, oversight of its activities by the public is necessary to accountability. CREW asked DOGE for its records under FOIA, but DOGE did not respond to the request, stating that the organization had been established in order to advise the president and hence it was exempt from the provisions of FOIA. CREW filed to force DOGE to give out the records requested.

In CREW v. U.S. DOGE Service, the Court determined that DOGE is, in fact, an agency of the government and is covered by FOIA. The Court confirmed that the actual question was whether or not the agency has a substantial discretion to act independently of the president or whether the agency’s only purpose is to advise and assist the president.

In concluding that DOGE constitutes an agency for the purposes of FOIA, the Court relied mainly on two factors. The first factor was the clear wording of the executive order that created DOGE, granting the agency authority to carry out this part of the Trump administration’s agenda. The second factor involved how DOGE used that authority. For instance, it launched the “Fork in the Road” email campaign to federal employees, presenting them with the option of a “deferred resignation” from their positions.

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