FILE PHOTO: Elon Musk listens to U.S. President Donald Trump speak in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 11, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo
(Reuters) - Trump administration officials must face questioning under oath about the workings of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency in a lawsuit by government employee unions seeking to block the secretive cost-cutting department from accessing federal agency systems, a federal judge ruled on Thursday.
U.S. District Judge John Bates in Washington ruled that the unions can question four officials - one from DOGE itself and one each from the Department of Labor, the Department of Health and Human Services and from Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The order did not name the individual officials that would be questioned.
The judge is considering whether to issue a preliminary injunction blocking DOGE from accessing agency systems while the unions' lawsuit proceeds.
The depositions, which are limited to a total of eight hours, must focus on DOGE's organizational structure, the roles and responsibilities of its employees, the extent of their access to agency systems and what measures have been taken to ensure security and privacy, Bates ruled.
U.S. Justice Department lawyers had opposed the unions' deposition request. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Bates, who was appointed by Republican President George W. Bush, noted that the government had submitted conflicting information about DOGE's operations, and that much about it remained unclear, including whether it was a formal government agency at all.
"It would be strange to permit defendants to submit evidence that addresses critical factual issues and proceed to rule on a preliminary injunction motion without permitting plaintiffs to explore those factual issues through very limited discovery," Bates wrote.
DOGE has operated largely in secrecy. Elon Musk, the billionaire ally of President Donald Trump, has been the department's public face and has taken credit for its deep cuts to federal agencies, but Justice Department lawyers have denied in court that Musk leads it.
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations earlier this month sued the Labor Department in an effort to block DOGE from accessing the department's systems, saying it could give Musk sensitive information about investigations into his companies. Bates declined to issue a temporary order blocking the access at the outset of the case.
The case has since expanded to target the other departments and add other unions as plaintiffs.
