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The chief justice put a temporary hold on a lower court ruling that Elon Musk’s government efficiency team and the Office of Management and Budget turn over internal records.
May 23, 2025, 5:54 p.m. ET
The Supreme Court on Friday temporarily shielded the Trump administration from a lower court order that had required Elon Musk’s government efficiency team to turn over internal documents to a group that sought them under open records laws.
The order, issued by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., is a temporary stay, intended to allow time for the full court to consider an emergency application from the Trump administration arguing that Mr. Musk’s group should be exempted from public records laws. It came before a Tuesday deadline ordered by a trial court judge that would have required the efficiency group to takes steps toward turning over the documents.
Judge Christopher R. Cooper of the Federal District Court in Washington had ordered that Mr. Musk and his team turn over documents by June 3 and allow the deposition of the administrator of the Department of Government Efficiency by June 13. Those next steps in the lawsuit will now be on hold while the justices consider the matter.
In an emergency application filed on Wednesday with the Supreme Court, D. John Sauer, the solicitor general, asked the justices to immediately block Judge Cooper’s ruling, which also involved White House Office of Management and Budget records. Mr. Sauer argued that the judge had overstepped his authority.
In the application, Mr. Sauer said that Mr. Musk’s group was a presidential advisory body, not a federal agency, and was therefore exempt from the federal Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA. He argued that the lower court order “clearly violates the separation of powers” by subjecting a presidential advisory group to a request for records, “threatening the confidentiality and candor of its advice.”
The application is the second time the justices have been asked to weigh in on cases related to Mr. Musk’s group. Earlier in the month, the government asked the Supreme Court to let members of DOGE gain access to sensitive records belonging to the Social Security Administration. The justices have yet to issue an order in that case.
The case involving DOGE’s compliance with public records laws stems from a lawsuit filed by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, or CREW, a watchdog group that has filed a series of requests seeking information about Mr. Musk’s team.
In February, CREW sued Mr. Musk and others connected with DOGE, arguing that they had violated federal public records laws by failing to process and release the records.
After the trial court judge concluded that Mr. Musk’s team was likely an agency subject to federal public records law, a three-judge federal appeals panel agreed, and the administration then asked the justices to step in and block the trial court’s order.
In a response filed Friday with the justices, lawyers for CREW argued that the Supreme Court “rarely intervenes in ongoing discovery disputes, and it appears that it has never done so in the FOIA context.” They added: “There is no basis for such extraordinary intervention here.”
Abbie VanSickle covers the United States Supreme Court for The Times. She is a lawyer and has an extensive background in investigative reporting.
