American Oversight filed suit challenging the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) practice of conducting official business on ephemeral platforms such as Signal and Google Docs. The plaintiff alleged that these practices violated the Federal Records Act (FRA) by failing to properly preserve government records and that defendants withheld non-exempt information in violation of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The complaint also invoked the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), asserting that defendants did not conduct reasonable searches for responsive records in response to FOIA requests. American Oversight seeks a declaration that DOGE’s communications are subject to federal record-keeping requirements, an order requiring compliance with FOIA requests, an injunction preventing continued noncompliance, and attorneys’ fees.
