In a significant legal development that could reshape the Trump administration’s government efficiency initiative, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan has ordered Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to turn over a wide array of records and answer questions about their plans to downsize federal agencies, fire employees, and suspend federal contracts. The ruling, issued on Wednesday, March 12, 2025, marks the first time a judge has ordered Musk to produce documents in a court challenge to his aggressive campaign to slash and reshape the federal bureaucracy. Judge Chutkan, an appointee of President Barack Obama, has given Musk and DOGE three weeks to comply with the so-called discovery requests, which will help determine whether the court will ultimately block DOGE’s government restructuring activities altogether 12.
The court order represents a victory for a coalition of 14 Democratic state attorneys general who filed a federal lawsuit against President Donald Trump, Musk, and DOGE. These attorneys general contend that Musk is unconstitutionally wielding immense power in ways that are damaging their states, arguing that “Mr. Musk does not hold a United States office and has not received Senate confirmation for any position, making his actions unconstitutional” 25. Judge Chutkan had previously rejected a request for a temporary restraining order against Musk and DOGE on February 18, explaining that she could not impose such measures without clear evidence of imminent, irreparable harm to the states involved. However, she did acknowledge that the attorneys general raised valid concerns about the “apparent unchecked power wielded by an unelected individual and an entity lacking Congressional creation and oversight” 5.
The ruling issued on Wednesday obligates Musk and DOGE to undertake several specific actions that will provide unprecedented transparency into the operations of the controversial government efficiency department. These requirements include submitting all planning, execution, and operational documents related to DOGE and the DOGE Temporary Organization concerning the elimination or reduction of federal agency sizes, the dismissal of federal employees or placing them on leave, and the cancellation, suspension, or delay of contracts or federal funding 14. Additionally, DOGE must provide all documents related to access, utilization, or modifications of federal databases or data management systems, which has been a particular concern among critics who worry about data security and privacy implications 14.
Perhaps most significantly, the court order requires DOGE to identify each individual working as staff for the department. For every individual, they must specify their job, whether they are part of a DOGE team at a federal agency (and if so, which agency), all to whom they report directly, and the person responsible for their hiring 14. This staff identification requirement addresses concerns that have been raised about the secretive nature of DOGE’s operations and the lack of transparency regarding who is making decisions that affect thousands of federal workers and billions in government spending. The order also stipulates that DOGE must produce any documents that include charts or summaries that DOGE or Musk have generated, compiled, or modified regarding planned cancellation of contracts or other legal agreements 14.
Judge Chutkan’s ruling explicitly acknowledges two significant points that many critics of DOGE have been emphasizing: that “Elon Musk has influenced the actions of DOGE staff” and that “Elon Musk is not overseen by any U.S. official other than the President of the United States” 14. These acknowledgments appear to validate concerns about the constitutionality of DOGE’s structure and Musk’s role within it. Notably, the judge emphasized that President Trump himself is exempt from the discovery requests, stating that her order includes “the explicit exemption of President Trump from the requests” 14. This distinction underscores the focus of the legal challenge on Musk’s role and DOGE’s operations rather than on presidential authority.
The White House has not provided an immediate response to requests for comments from news organizations, including Fox News Digital, which sought reaction on Thursday morning 14. The silence from the administration comes at a critical moment when DOGE’s activities are facing mounting scrutiny from multiple directions. Judge Chutkan stated in her ruling that “the burden on the Defendants is alleviated by the limited timeframe for the required materials, the exclusion of electronic communications, the explicit exemption of President Trump from the requests, the extension of the Defendants’ response period, and the denial of the Plaintiffs’ request for depositions” 14. She also noted that “The Plaintiffs’ Discovery Requests shall be confined to information and materials related to employees, contracts, federal legal agreements, databases, and data management that involve or engage with the States; entities operated by the Plaintiff States” 14.
This latest court order follows just days after another significant legal setback for DOGE. On Monday, March 10, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ordered the government-downsizing team to disclose records regarding its activities, which the judge noted had been conducted with “unusual secrecy” 3. Judge Cooper supported the government oversight organization Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), determining that DOGE is likely an entity that falls under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 3. This ruling represented an initial triumph for those advocating for increased transparency from DOGE regarding its involvement in the extensive layoffs within the federal workforce and the restructuring of government agencies under the Republican administration 3.
The Trump administration had contended that DOGE, as a segment of the Executive Office of the President, should be exempt from FOIA, which permits public access to documents produced by government entities. However, Judge Cooper, also an appointee of former Democratic President Barack Obama, asserted that DOGE had “independent authority that surpassed that of other parts of the office typically exempt from FOIA regulations” 3. Cooper remarked that DOGE “appears to have the authority not just to assess federal programs, but to significantly alter and even abolish them entirely,” a point the agency reportedly did not contest 3. He pointed out that its “operations thus far have been characterized by unusual secrecy,” referencing reports about DOGE’s use of an external server, employees’ refusal to identify themselves to permanent officials, and their communication via the encrypted app Signal 3.
In his 37-page opinion memorandum issued on Monday, Judge Cooper wrote that DOGE’s actions “demonstrate its substantial authority over vast swaths of the federal government” and that the “public would be irreparably harmed by an indefinite delay” in responding to FOIA requests 7. He told DOGE to deliver the requested information quickly and “begin producing documents on a rolling basis as soon as possible” 7. Cooper’s decision was the first major legal ruling that has sought to pry open DOGE’s operations for public scrutiny, though it can still be appealed 7.
Since the onset of Trump’s second term on January 20, 2025, Musk and DOGE have faced nearly two dozen legal challenges 5. DOGE’s efforts to reduce expenditures by laying off thousands of federal employees and closing foreign aid programs have generated anxiety and uncertainty within the government. The department’s recommendations have led to the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, with tens of thousands of workers being laid off across multiple departments6. Under a DOGE recommendation, federal workers who offered to resign could be paid through September 30, 2025, and about 75,000 workers – approximately 3% of the federal workforce – resigned 6.
Data released in early March by Challenger, Gray & Christmas showed that job cuts in the federal government had reached 172,017 in February alone — the highest monthly level since the pandemic spurred a wave of layoffs in June 2020 7. DOGE has claimed it has saved $105 billion so far, but its tallies aren’t definitive. The agency has repeatedly deleted or lowered the amount saved in some of its reports by billions of dollars, raising questions about the accuracy of its economic impact claims 7.
In response to Cooper’s ruling on Monday, a spokesperson for the Department of Justice informed Business Insider that Musk and DOGE “are conserving significant amounts of taxpayer money by eliminating frivolous bureaucratic projects” 5. The spokesperson further asserted that the Department is actively defending President Trump’s agenda in court, particularly concerning issues of waste, fraud, and the misuse of taxpayer funds 5. Meanwhile, Donald Sherman, CREW’s executive director and chief counsel, said the group was grateful for Cooper’s decision, stating: “Now more than ever, Americans deserve transparency in their government. Despite efforts and claims to the contrary, the government cannot hide the actions of the US DOGE Service. We look forward to the expedited processing of our requests and making all the DOGE documents public” 6.
The legal challenges to DOGE are part of a broader pattern of lawsuits against the Trump administration’s activities in the weeks since Trump’s inauguration. As Republicans control both the White House and Congress, legal action has become Democrats’ primary way of challenging Trump’s policies 8. Most of these lawsuits are still playing out in court, though a number of temporary rulings have been issued that either block policies while litigation moves forward or allow various orders to stay in place until there’s a more lasting ruling 8. Permanent rulings have only been issued so far in two cases—concerning two specific federal workers’ firings—but those rulings could also be overturned by higher courts on appeal 8.
As DOGE now faces the requirement to comply with Judge Chutkan’s order within three weeks, the outcome of this legal battle could have significant implications for the future of Trump and Musk’s government efficiency initiative. The disclosure of DOGE’s downsizing plans and the identification of all its employees will provide unprecedented transparency into an organization that has operated largely in the shadows since its creation. Whether this transparency leads to further legal challenges or simply to greater public understanding and accountability remains to be seen, but it marks a critical turning point in the ongoing debate about the proper role and structure of government in the Trump administration’s second term.
The federal court orders requiring Elon Musk and DOGE to disclose their government downsizing plans and identify all employees represent significant legal challenges to the Trump administration’s government efficiency initiative. As DOGE faces mounting scrutiny from multiple courts, questions about its constitutionality, transparency, and impact on government services continue to grow. The outcomes of these legal battles will likely shape not only the future of DOGE itself but also establish important precedents regarding the limits of executive power and the role of unelected advisors in reshaping the federal government. With nearly two dozen lawsuits already filed against DOGE and more likely to come, the legal landscape surrounding Trump’s government efficiency efforts remains highly uncertain and contentious.
