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This week, American Oversight recognized the 20th anniversary of Sunshine Week, the annual celebration of government transparency and open records access, and took the opportunity to look back at just a few of the major victories we’ve had since our founding in 2017.
This year, the public’s right to information about what our government is doing is under unprecedented threat. From destroying records that belong to the people to obscuring the work of the federal wrecking ball that is the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the Trump administration is dismantling democratic safeguards, distorting facts, and concealing critical information.
As DOGE continues to wreak havoc on the federal government, confusion about its leadership and structure has gone hand in hand with its efforts to evade transparency. And despite a ruling last week that the entity is likely subject to the Freedom of Information Act, DOGE recently told us that it isn’t — putting important records about its staffing and activities at risk of being destroyed.
The revelations about DOGE’s continued claims that it is immune from FOIA come in our ongoing lawsuit against the entity, which has asked the court for an extension in replying to our complaint. Not only does this increase the risk of documents being destroyed, it also denies the American people information they urgently need about DOGE’s fast-moving actions.
On Tuesday, a federal judge ruled that DOGE’s dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) was likely illegal and ordered it not to make any more cuts. The ruling came in a lawsuit brought by dismissed USAID employees and contractors, which claims that Elon Musk and DOGE lacked constitutional authority for their actions.
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Pete Marocco, the Trump administration official who oversaw USAID’s dismantling, said this week that two political appointees will take over his role as deputy administrator of USAID: Jeremy Lewin will serve as USAID’s chief operating officer and deputy administrator for policy and programs, and Ken Jackson will be the agency’s chief financial officer and deputy administrator for management and resources.
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Lewin is a DOGE employee who was involved in its cuts to agencies and played a central role in the decimation of USAID.
Also this week, DOGE forcibly took control of the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP), using threats and law enforcement to gain access to the independent nonprofit’s D.C. headquarters. On Tuesday, DOGE announced on X that it had removed USIP’s president, George Moose, and installed Jackson as acting president.
On the Records
Oklahoma Approves Education Standards Teaching 2020 Election Denialism
The Oklahoma Board of Education this week approved new social studies education standards that appear to repeat the false claims of President Trump and his supporters about the 2020 election.
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The standards ask students to “identify discrepancies in 2020 elections … including the sudden halting of ballot-counting in select cities in key battleground states, the security risks of mail-in balloting, sudden batch dumps, an unforeseen record number of voters, and the unprecedented contradiction of ‘bellwether county’ trends.”
As state superintendent, Ryan Walters has gained national notoriety for his far-right makeover of Oklahoma public schools, including by adopting anti-LGBTQ and anti-DEI policies and suppressing student and teacher self-expression. Walters has also ordered public schools to incorporate the Bible into curriculum and denied state legislators entry to executive sessions of the State Education Board.
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This week, American Oversight sent a letter to the Oklahoma Department of Education demanding the release of multiple sets of public records requested over the past year that the agency has failed to provide.
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Our letter claims the department has erroneously interpreted the Open Records Act to shield itself from handing over records from its highly controversial Library Media Advisory Committee and Executive Review Committee.
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The demand comes as Walters attempts to change administrative rules to remove the requirement that public records requests be fulfilled within a “prompt and reasonable time.”
This is the second time American Oversight has demanded transparency from the Oklahoma Department of Education in just half a year, having sent a letter demanding the release of multiple sets of records in September.
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“While the Walters administration’s disdain for transparency remains unchanged, what also remains the same is the right of Oklahomans — including the parents of young children who will be impacted by Walters’ ongoing politicization of education in public schools — to access these records,” our interim Executive Director Chioma Chukwu said. “We demand the Department of Education release the records to which the public is entitled.”
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Walters has been a vocal supporter of Trump’s plan to dismantle the Department of Education. On Wednesday — the day before Trump signed an executive order to start the process of closing the Education Department — Walters posted on X: “Don’t threaten me with a good time.”
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Records we previously obtained from the Oklahoma Department of Education reveal Walters’ close ties to far-right education groups like Moms for Liberty, PragerU, and Parents Defending Education, and shed light on his efforts to inject white Christian nationalism into public education.
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Read more about our education investigations in our recent report, “The Far-Right Attack on Education: How Curriculum and Classroom Censorship Stifles Educators, Harms Students, and Threatens Our Democracy.”
Other Stories We’re Following
Trump Administration Accountability
- How the Justice Department is remaking itself in Trump’s image (Washington Post)
- How a push to amend the Constitution could help Trump expand presidential power (ProPublica)
- Trump fires Democrats on Federal Trade Commission (New York Times)
- Emails reveal top IRS lawyer warned Trump firings were a ‘fraud’ on the courts (ProPublica)
- With orders, investigations and innuendo, Trump and GOP aim to cripple the left (New York Times)
- Trump drastically cutting back annual human rights report (Politico)
- Trump administration poised to ‘strand rural America with worse internet’ to help Musk, official warns (Guardian)
DOGE and Elon Musk
- Elon Musk’s Starlink expands across White House complex (New York Times)
- Meet Elon Musk’s top lieutenant who oversees DOGE (New York Times)
- Leaked memo: DOGE plots to cut Social Security phone support (Axios)
- Elon Musk says DOGE works 120 hours a week as he brings Silicon Valley grind culture to government (Business Insider)
- AG Pam Bondi forms internal team to work with DOGE on DOJ cost-cutting efforts (ABC News)
- DOGE cuts reach key nuclear scientists, bomb engineers and safety experts (New York Times)
Election Denial and Voting Rights
- Top DC prosecutor, who promoted false 2020 voter fraud claims, forms ‘election accountability’ unit (Associated Press)
- Musk offering $100 to Wisconsin petition signers; tactic may be illegal, election attorney says (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
- The federal Voting Rights Act was gutted. States now want their own versions. (Stateline)
- Georgia Supreme Court considers whether judge was right to block new election rules (Associated Press)
- Election officials worry that Pennsylvania court rulings could compromise ballot secrecy (Votebeat)
In the States
National News
- 'Segregated facilities' are no longer explicitly banned in federal contracts (NPR)
- Kennedy’s alarming prescription for bird flu on poultry farms (New York Times)
- FTC removes posts critical of Amazon, Microsoft, and AI companies (Wired)
- Mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac brace for job cuts (New York Times)
- Social Security's new in-person identification requirement angers retirees and advocates (CBS News)
- Bondi calls Tesla vandalism ‘domestic terrorism,’ promising steep consequences (New York Times)
LGBTQ Rights
- Trump administration targets UPenn over transgender athletes (Politico)
- Two transgender girls, six federal agencies. How Trump is trying to pressure Maine into obedience. (ProPublica)
Abortion and Reproductive Rights
- Ohio anti-abortion rights lobby files complaint against company for telehealth abortion services (Ohio Capital Journal)
- Texas’ first abortion arrests stem from monthlong attorney general investigation (Texas Tribune)
- A new Texas bill is coming after online abortion pills (19th News)
- Md. poised to become first state to use insurance surcharge for abortions (Washington Post)
Threats to Education
- Education Department staff cuts could limit options for families of kids with disabilities (Associated Press)
- Over 50 universities are under investigation as part of Trump's anti-DEI crackdown (NPR)
- Texas AG Ken Paxton accuses Coppell ISD of violating Texas’ ‘critical race theory’ ban (Texas Tribune)
Government Transparency and Public Records Law
- Encrypted messaging apps promise privacy. Government transparency is often the price (Associated Press)
- Missourians can face years-long waits for records requested from some state agencies (Missouri Independent)
Immigration
- Trump administration deports hundreds of immigrants even as a judge orders their removals be stopped (Associated Press)
- Lawyers and advocates say 48 people are unaccounted for after ICE raid in New Mexico (NBC News)
- How feds took control of the narrative in deportation of Brown Medicine kidney doctor (Rhode Island Current)
- An ICE contractor is worth billions. It’s still fighting to pay detainees as little as $1 a day to work. (ProPublica)
- Trump team makes plans for military to hold migrants at border (Washington Post)
- The unraveling of Trump’s plan to detain thousands of migrants at Guantanamo (Wall Street Journal)
- ‘Very dangerous’: Japanese Americans warn of Trump’s use of Alien Enemies Act (Washington Post)
- Justice Department moves to drop lawsuit that would allow Texas police to arrest migrants (Associated Press)
- Administration’s details on deportation flights ‘woefully insufficient,’ judge says (New York Times)
- Intelligence assessment said to contradict Trump on Venezuelan gang (New York Times)
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