A federal judge issued a ruling on Monday ordering the disclosure of operational records from the government-reduction initiative established by US President Donald Trump and led by Elon Musk, noting that its activities had been conducted with "unusual secrecy", as reported by Reuters.
In Washington, US District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled in favour of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics, a government oversight organisation, determining that the Department of Government Efficiency likely qualified as an agency bound by the Freedom of Information Act requirements.
The ruling comes amid growing scrutiny of the agency’s operations and transparency. In a separate ruling last month, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction blocking Musk’s DOGE from accessing sensitive treasury department records, including social security and bank account numbers of millions of Americans, reported the news agency AP.
US district judge Paul A Engelmayer, appointed by Barack Obama, ruled that DOGE’s access to the treasury’s central payment system violates federal law. The system manages trillions of dollars in federal payments, including tax refunds, social security benefits, and veterans’ benefits.