Roberts grants Trump request to keep DOGE in the shadows
Share this @internewscast.com

Left: At a campaign event in Salem, Virginia, on November 2, 2024, then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is seen viewing a screen (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File). Right: Chief Justice John Roberts, along with other Supreme Court justices, sits for a new group photograph at the Supreme Court in Washington on October 7, 2022 (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File).

On Friday, Chief Justice John Roberts approved a request from the Trump administration to stop a lower court’s directive mandating that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) release documents as per the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

In a brief, single-page order, Roberts provided an administrative hold “pending further order of the undersigned or of the Court.” This effectively halts two discovery orders that had been issued by U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper, appointed by Barack Obama, in mid-April and earlier this week.

“[T]he district court below ordered [DOGE] to submit to sweeping, intrusive discovery just to determine if [DOGE] is subject to FOIA in the first place,” Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote in a 38-page emergency application to the nation’s high court on May 21. “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 chief justice’s order halts a planned deposition of titular U.S. DOGE Service Administrator Amy Gleason. The ruling also means DOGE will no longer have to produce documents and answer limited questions posed by the nonpartisan government watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW).

Love true crime? Sign up for our newsletter, The Law&Crime Docket, to get the latest real-life crime stories delivered right to your inbox.

The underlying lawsuit is an effort by CREW and others to enforce FOIA requests against the Trump administration’s intra-governmental fraud-and-waste-focused organization. DOGE, in turn, has maintained “it is not an agency subject to FOIA.”

Cooper, for his part, has disagreed. The judge issued several rulings directing the pseudo-agency, which refers to itself as a “presidential advisory body within the Executive Office of the President,” to share information with the plaintiffs beginning in March.

Meanwhile, the government has aggressively litigated its preference for DOGE’s inner workings to remain under lock and key.

The Trump administration asked for, and received, an administrative stay of Cooper’s April order from the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals. Later, the appellate court dissolved its own stay and allowed limited discovery to move forward.

On Wednesday, the government reiterated arguments that DOGE “is obviously not an ‘agency’ for FOIA purposes” because its authority is “purely advisory.” Sauer argued various “presidential documents” outline the advisory nature of DOGE’s remit, including directives to “consult” and “coordinate” with government officials on ways to “identify” solutions.

“None of those advisory functions (or functions in support of them) constitute the kind of independent authority that could render a presidential advisory body an ‘agency’ under FOIA,” the application argued.

Share this @internewscast.com
You May Also Like

Tragic Incident: Child’s Death in Car Window Leads to Mother’s Charges, Say Police

Inset: Kandice Grace (Fulton County Jail). Background: The street in Atlanta where…

Father Greeted Kids with ‘Good Morning’ before Tragic Incident, Police Report

Left inset: Jeffrey Smerer (WJBK/YouTube). Right inset: Kinzley Smerer, Bentley Smerer and…

Idaho Psychiatrist Accused of Assaulting Patient with Unlawful Instrument

An Idaho psychiatrist has been arrested for allegedly raping a patient with…

Weeks After a Raucous Party at Elaine’s House, She Disappeared

On its surface, the NSW Sutherland Shire was a carefree place to…

SCOTUS Blocks Trump’s Attempt to Dismiss Lisa Cook

Left: Federal Reserve Board of Governors member Lisa Cook attends a Board…

Body of Missing California Woman Discovered in Attic

A California woman reported missing late last week has been found dead,…

Details Surface About Mother Accused of Attempting to Drown Her Three Children: DA

Left inset: Image of Shaniece Willingham provided by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s…

Mother-in-Law Allegedly Hired Hit on Law Professor Son-in-Law; Jury Misconduct May Lead to Her Release

After nearly three weeks of testimony, a jury swiftly reached a verdict…

Homeless Individual Arrested for Attacking Police Officers at GRACE Marketplace

Staff report GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Devan Terrell Green, 35, was taken into…

Michigan Father Opens Fire on His Children, Claims Stress Over Sentencing for Indecent Exposure

A Michigan father was bound over for trial last week after gunning…

Police Issue Warning Following Increase in Counterfeit Currency

South Australian police have issued a warning over a surge in counterfeit…

Former mayor and ex-state trooper receives verdict for accident

Inset left: A.J. Scott (City of Buchanan). Inset right: Isabella Chinchilla and…