Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Trump Bid to Keep DOGE Records Secret From Watchdog

The Supreme Court agreed on October 13, 2026, to hear the Trump administration's bid to shield internal records about the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from a Freedom of Information Act suit by the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), which seeks records from DOGE's early 2025 operations. It is the second time the justices have intervened. The administration argues DOGE is a presidential advisory body exempt from FOIA; CREW argues it functions as a federal agency subject to the law. The administration also objects to a lower court allowing a deposition of DOGE's acting administrator, Amy Gleason.

The case tests how far FOIA reaches into bodies created to advise the president directly, and whether courts can compel testimony from officials who restructured federal agencies. In June 2025 the Court's conservative majority found a lower judge's document-production order too broad, citing separation-of-powers concerns; CREW later won renewed orders at the district and appeals court levels, which the administration is now challenging again.

The Court has not scheduled argument or a decision timeline. CREW said it would keep pursuing transparency on DOGE, while the administration's appeal remains pending.