Legal hurdles mount for DOGE as judge orders records release, lease terminations hit St. Louis federal sites

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) - A federal judge ruled Monday that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is likely subject to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), a law that allows the public to request records from government agencies.

The ruling from US District Court Judge Casey Cooper comes as watchdog groups look into the activity of DOGE, which has been a focal point of the Trump istration’s spending overhaul.

“What you’ve seen from DOGE in of transparency is posting numbers on websites,” attorney and legal analyst Brad Young told First Alert 4. “True transparency requires the disclosure of information, not just the publication of cherry-picked information.”

The watchdog group that sued, the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, still may not receive the records they’re seeking because the decision can be appealed.

Elon Musk has touted DOGE’s Food and Drug istration testing lab lease in St. Louis, which has yet to be removed from DOGE’s site as the FDA states the facility will remain open, and the government will share no further information.

As watchdog groups continue to scrutinize DOGE, the judge ordered the Trump istration to save the records that CREW was seeking. The records focus on DOGE’s organization, finances and communications with federal agencies, according to the judge, citing “unusual secrecy.”

“The uniqueness of what DOGE is - that’s different from what we’ve seen from government in the past,” Young said. “What is not unique is the government not wanting to comply with FOIA requests.”

The judge said lawyers for the Trump istration did not adequately argue the challenger’s claims that DOGE was exercising “substantial independent authority” that would require the department to follow FOIA law.

The judge said Trump’s DOGE-related directives had appeared to give DOGE “substantial authority independent of the President.”

Young says that’s likely why rhetoric surrounding DOGE actions has changed in the last week.

“President Trump has started referring to Elon Musk and DOGE as simply advising him, that [Trump] makes the decisions on terminations,” Young said. “That is an obvious attempt to shift DOGE from having active authority to advisory.”

The judge said rhetoric previous to this week helped to make the challenger’s case.

“Statements and reports suggest that the President and [DOGE] leadership view the department as wielding decision-making authority to make cuts across the federal government,” the judge said.

The order comes as government employees are anonymously telling media sources that DOGE is meeting in secret with leaders at some government agencies, like the General Services istration (GSA). This is the agency tasked with g and maintaining federal leases, like the lease for the FDA testing lab in St. Louis.

The GSA is also under scrutiny after posting a list of “non-core” facilities, sites owned by the government to be sold. Four sites on the list were in the St. Louis area:

- The Robert A. Young Federal Building in St. Louis

- The Clyde S. Cahill Memorial Park in St. Louis

- The Charles F. Prevedel Federal Building in Overland

- The East St. Louis Federal Building in East St. Louis

The full list of more than 440 federal properties was shortly deleted by the Trump istration without reason by the GSA after it issued a revised list with only 320 entries that excluded every previously listed building in Washington, DC. The website now says “coming soon.”

DOGE impacts have also hit the region, with the slashing of several federal leases.

As DOGE faces mounting scrutiny over transparency, a real estate attorney in the St. Louis region says these early terminations could have impacts, as well.

“A breach within that firm term ... that termination is something that is fairly rare and can be expensive to remedy,” Scott Mueller with Capes Sokol said.

Young expects the White House will appeal the judge’s ruling regarding FOIA, which, if granted, would shield DOGE records under the Presidential Records Act. That means DOGE documents could remain sealed for up to 12 years after President Trump leaves office.

Copyright 2025 KMOV. All rights reserved.