DOGE Sued Over Record Keeping, Failing to Reply to FOIA Requests

The Department of Government Efficiency and top Trump administration officials are being sued over the agency’s alleged violations of federal record-keeping and transparency laws.

DOGE has made “repeated, systemic failures to preserve and produce records” under the Federal Records Act and Freedom of Information Act, the nonprofit American Oversight claims in a complaint filed Wednesday in the US District Court for the District of Columbia.

DOGE allegedly uses platforms that violate its record-keeping obligations—such as the open-source, Slack-alternative Mattermost, Google Docs, and Signal—and “lack the safeguards necessary to ensure that public records are not being wrongfully destroyed,” the nonprofit says.

Drafts of Google Docs aren’t easily preserved since individuals can simultaneously edit the documents, and chats within Google Docs aren’t saved. DOGE also “has not established systems within its version of Google Docs to ensure that all federal records are captured and preserved,” American Oversight alleges.

Signal also automatically deletes messages after a certain period of time, and Mattermost messages can be configured to do the same, the complaint says.

American Oversight says it sent more than 30 FOIA requests to DOGE since Jan. 20 and points to four specific requests for communication records between DOGE officials containing specific words or phrases that the agency hasn’t produced. The nonprofit alleges its requested records include DOGE communications on Signal, Google Docs, and Mattermost, which “have already been removed or destroyed or may soon be.”

American Oversight asserts several violations of the Administrative Procedure Act and FOIA. The nonprofit also seeks declaratory and injunctive relief requiring DOGE officials to comply with laws governing agency record-keeping and produce the nonprofit’s records requests.

The nonprofit also sued DOGE and the Office of Management and Budget in February for failing to timely produce its FOIA requests of communications between DOGE officials and members of Congress.

The White House and the National Archives and Records Administration, which is also named as a defendant in the complaint, didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

In-house counsel represents American Oversight.

The case is Am. Oversight v. U.S. Dep’t of Gov’t Efficiency, D.D.C., No. 1:25-cv-01251, complaint filed 4/23/25.