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President Donald Trump has obscured the role Elon Musk holds at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) so as to withhold public information about the individuals behind the decimation of the federal government — and thus avoid accountability for his administration’s actions.
This week, during his joint address to Congress, Trump said DOGE is headed by his billionaire ally Elon Musk — despite his administration having previously claimed in court that Musk is not employed by and has no authority over DOGE.
- American Oversight amended its ongoing public records lawsuit against DOGE on Wednesday, adding six additional Freedom of Information Act requests that have gone unanswered.
- Our lawsuit is the first to test whether DOGE is subject to FOIA and argues that the office’s records — including communications, details about its leadership, and any documents reflecting its efforts to demolish the federal government — belong to and should be accessible to the public.
- The records at issue in the amended complaint include details about Musk’s official job title, responsibilities, and salary at DOGE, Musk’s calendars and communications since Trump’s inauguration in January, and information about the structure and staffing of the U.S. Digital Service before Trump reorganized it to house DOGE — a move made in an apparent attempt to evade FOIA.
- Other requests added to the case seek the release of “U.S. DOGE Service” staffing records, including resumes of new employees hired since Trump’s inauguration.
Claiming that Musk’s team’s purpose is to advise the president, rather than serve as an agency, the White House has said that DOGE records are presidential records and therefore not subject to FOIA. By making the records instead subject to the Presidential Records Act, the public could not see them until at least 2034.
- “You have to look at what DOGE is actually doing,” our interim executive director Chioma Chukwu told the Intercept this week, pointing to the apparent authority the office has been given to wreak havoc on the government. “DOGE is wielding influence over federal agencies. … It is the key tool the federal government is using to gut the federal workforce.”
- Adding to potential confusion, Trump told his Cabinet on Thursday that they were the ones in charge of firing their employees, not Musk. “If they can cut, it’s better,” he said. “And if they don’t cut, then Elon will do the cutting.”
- This comes after weeks of mass layoffs directed by the Trump administration and DOGE — in which tens of thousands of federal employees lost their jobs.
On the Records
Trump 'Border Czar' Communications with Texas Governor
Text messages we obtained show Tom Homan, Donald Trump’s second-term “border czar” and first-term acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, discussing anti-immigration “border security” projects with Texas officials even before Trump’s second term began. The texts shed light on Homan’s collaborative relationships with Texas officials leading the state’s immigration enforcement efforts, including Gov. Greg Abbott.
In 2023, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the Biden administration over Border Patrol agents cutting concertina wire, a razor-like wire installed by the Texas Military Department as part of Abbott’s controversial Operation Lone Star to deter migrants from crossing over into the state. Last November, a federal appeals court ruled that agents are no longer allowed to cut wire during operations.
- The records include messages that appear to be from November, with Abbott texting Homan: “The Fifth Circuit just held that Border Patrol cannot cut our C-wire. We’re studying the 75-page opinion now, which just dropped, but this is good news for Texas. It was great to have you in Texas this week. We look forward to working with you every step of the way.”
- Homan responded: “Great decision. After January 20th we would have stopped that crap anyway but its good to have in your back pocket. I am looking forward to our continues [sic] partnership”
- “Exactly,” Abbott responded. “But always keep in the back of your mind that what we accomplish over the next four years we want to maintain for the next 40 years.”
Homan helped create and enforce some of the first Trump administration’s harshest anti-immigration policies alongside Stephen Miller, a longtime Trump adviser who is now his White House deputy chief of staff for policy.
- Speaking at the National Conservatism Conference last July, Homan said, “Trump comes back in January … And I will run the biggest deportation operation this country's ever seen."
Other Stories We’re Following
Trump Accountability
- People are paying millions to dine with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago (Wired)
- Trump faces blowback over plans for crypto reserve (New York Times)
- Trump administration to pause future deliveries of military aid to Ukraine (Washington Post)
- NIH reels with fear, uncertainty about future of scientific research (Washington Post)
- Treasury ends enforcement of business ownership database meant to stop shell company formation (Associated Press)
- A crypto mogul who invested millions into Trump coins is getting a reprieve on civil fraud charges (CNN)
Trump and DOGE Purges and Takeovers
- The IRS is drafting plans to cut as much as half of its 90,000-person workforce, AP sources say (Associated Press)
- How DOGE’s cuts to the IRS threaten to cost more than DOGE will ever save (ProPublica)
- Pentagon set to gut office focused on reducing civilian deaths (Washington Post)
- Internal memos: Senior USAID leaders warned Trump appointees of hundreds of thousands of deaths from closing agency (ProPublica)
- Trump administration deletes list of hundreds of federal buildings targeted for potential sale (Associated Press)
- Some DOGE staffers are drawing six-figure government salaries (Wired)
- Struggling with errors, DOGE deletes billions more from list of savings (New York Times)
- DOGE is driving Social Security cuts and will make mistakes, acting head says privately (Washington Post)
Election Denial and Voting Rights
- Justice Department is reviewing prosecution of Colorado clerk who supported Trump’s election lies (Associated Press)
- Election security aid is on the chopping block, rattling local officials (NBC News)
- Pennsylvania signs new contract to upgrade SURE voter registration system (Votebeat)
State and National News
- Atlanta inspector general’s office staff accuse city officials of retaliation, refer investigations to feds (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
- Democrats call for inquiry into top Justice official over Adams case (New York Times)
- Top HHS spokesperson quits after clashing with RFK Jr. (Politico)
- Industry-backed legislation would bar the use of science behind hundreds of environmental protections (ProPublica)
LGBTQ+ Rights
- Hospitals are curtailing gender-affirming care beyond scope set by Trump’s order (Truthout)
- Judge blocks Trump order threatening funding for institutions that provide gender-affirming care for youths (NBC News)
- Senate blocks ban on transgender athletes, as Trump pushes forward (Washington Post)
- Republican state lawmakers galvanize to attack same-sex marriage (Guardian)
- Following Trump executive orders, Wisconsin Republicans introduce slate of anti-trans bills (Wisconsin Examiner)
Abortion and Reproductive Rights
- A new Missouri bill would let residents donate to anti-abortion centers instead of paying any taxes (ProPublica)
- Trump has dropped a high-profile abortion case in Idaho. Here’s what that means (Associated Press)
- Georgia won’t say who’s now serving on its maternal mortality committee after dismissing all members last year (ProPublica)
- Pardoned anti-abortion activists plan next steps (Politico)
- GOP lawmakers push to charge women with homicide for seeking abortions (Stateline)
- Arizona’s 15-week abortion ban is now ‘permanently and forever’ struck down (AZ Mirror)
Threats to Education
- Trump prepares order dismantling the Education Department (NPR)
- Anti-DEI bill passes Georgia committee, setting up likely Senate fight (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
- Texas Senate panel advances bill requiring Ten Commandments in classrooms (Texas Tribune)
- US education secretary says she is on 'final mission' to end bureaucracy (Reuters)
Government Transparency and Public Records Law
Immigration
- What the data shows about Trump’s immigration enforcement so far (New York Times)
- Trump officials to reopen Texas detention center for migrant families (Washington Post)
- DHS asks IRS for addresses of people believed to be in U.S. illegally (Washington Post)
- Trump administration rethinking Guantánamo immigrant detention plan amid cost issues and power struggles (NBC News)
- In child care centers and on farms, businesses are bracing for more immigration raids (NPR)
- Federal judge to hear arguments over whether to block immigration arrests in US schools (Associated Press)
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