Okay, I just got done earlier bemoaning the fact that every day seems to bring news of some federal judge kicking sand into the Trump administration's gears. It does seem like we've been covering an abundance of such stories. And an awful lot of them don't seem to go the administration's way.
I keep telling folks (and myself) to have faith — most of these issues will get sorted out in the long run, and most to the benefit of the administration (and, I would argue, the country). But I understand why folks are frustrated with the courts and a lot of these rulings — I am, too, even though I retain my cautious optimism.
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All of which is to say, when we get a bright spot of judicial news, I'm happy to take that. We got just that Friday afternoon with a brief order issued by Chief Justice John Roberts in a case involving Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests aimed at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
BREAKING: Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberts has temporarily stayed discovery into whether the Department of Government Efficiency is a government agency subject to public records requests until further notice. #SCOTUS pic.twitter.com/4zoNbFoj9S
— Katie Buehler (@bykatiebuehler) May 23, 2025
So, here's the background on this one:
- February 20 — Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) (founded by Norm Eisen, for those wondering) filed suit against DOGE, Elon Musk, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Russ Vought (its director), the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), and Marco Rubio (in his capacity as archivist), asserting all manner of nefarious, shadowy deeds against DOGE and seeking an injunction declaring DOGE an "agency" under U.S. Code provisions, such that it is subject to FOIA requests.
- March 10 — Judge Christopher Cooper, an Obama appointee, entered an order granting (in part) CREW's motion for a preliminary injunction.
- April 15 — Judge Cooper entered an order granting expedited discovery in the case.
- April 18 — The Trump administration appealed Cooper's April 15 ruling to the D.C. Circuit, seeking a writ of mandamus quashing his order based on the separation of powers and asserting that DOGE is an advisory body, not an agency subject to such requests.
- April 18 — The D.C. Circuit granted an administrative stay of Cooper's order.
- May 14 — The D.C. Circuit dissolved the administrative stay and denied the administration's petition for writ of mandamus.
- May 20 — Judge Cooper denied the administration's motion for stay as moot and ordered discovery to proceed
- May 21 — The administration filed an application for stay in the Supreme Court.
And that brings us to today, with the Chief Justice issuing the order placing an administrative stay on Cooper's April 15 and May 20 orders.
Now, that's a win — but, to be fair, it's only a temporary win and not a guarantee of the ultimate outcome. As noted above, the D.C. Circuit initially granted an administrative stay, but then, after reviewing everything, ultimately dissolved it and denied the administration's request. The Supreme Court could ultimately determine that the administration is not entitled to relief and send it packing, too. But the fact that SCOTUS is reviewing the matter and has pressed pause on the discovery process is a win at least for now.
And it being the Friday of a holiday weekend, I'll simply leave you with a reminder of what I said in today's Morning Minute regarding SCOTUS:
With some of their willy-nilly behavior of late, I won't be shocked if we get another random decision thrown out over the weekend.
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