The Supreme Court on Friday handed the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) two major victories in its expanding legal battle over drastic efforts to reshape the federal bureaucracy.
In two separate emergency rulings issued simultaneously, the court lifted a block on DOGE personnel accessing sensitive Social Security Administration (SSA) systems and wiped a ruling forcing DOGE to turn over discovery in a records lawsuit.
In the Social Security case, the justices lifted a Maryland-based federal judge’s order blocking DOGE from snooping around the SSA’s systems that contain personally identifiable information, including Social Security numbers, medical and mental health records, bank data, and earnings history.
The majority did not explain the reasoning, only saying that the “SSA may proceed to afford members of the SSA DOGE Team access to the agency record” under the present circumstances.
The Supreme Court’s second emergency decision stems from a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against DOGE.
The government had asked the justices to overturn a judge’s order allowing limited discovery into whether DOGE is an “agency,” which would dictate whether it’s subject to FOIA requests.
U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper, an appointee of Obama, directed the release of all “recommendations” DOGE made to various federal agencies, in addition to other internal documents. He also ordered a deposition of acting DOGE Administrator Amy Gleason.
By agreeing to wipe that order, the Supreme Court’s decision marks a major victory for the Trump administration’s efforts to keep DOGE’s inner workings behind the veil. The majority said Cooper’s order was “not appropriately tailored” to whether DOGE was an agency.
“Furthermore, separation of powers concerns counsel judicial deference and restraint in the context of discovery regarding internal Executive Branch communications,” the court wrote in its unsigned ruling.
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