Two prominent House Democrats said today they are using a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request in their continuing battle to drill down into how the White House’s Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) is operating across Federal government agencies.
Reps. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., and Jamie Raskin, D-Md. – who respectively serve as the ranking members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and the House Judiciary Committee – said today they are making a FOIA request to determine DOGE’s legal authority, potential conflicts of interest, involvement with the firing of Federal personnel, and access to sensitive data and use of artificial intelligence.
The FOIA request also aims for more clarity about who oversees DOGE, following previous inquiries from Rep. Connolly about the agency’s leadership. This comes after President Donald Trump publicly referred to his top advisor Elon Musk as DOGE’s chief, while senior White House officials testified in court documents that Musk is not employed by DOGE.
“We are citizens of a strong democracy and not subjects of an oligarchical techno-state,” the Democratic ranking members said in a statement. “Like Joe Biden before him, Donald Trump was elected President and not king.”
“The President, Mr. Musk, and DOGE can and will be held accountable to the American people, the original and ultimate source of all sovereign power in the United States of America,” they declared.
Separately, Rep. Connolly continued his efforts to crack down on the Trump administration today by introducing two pieces of legislation – the Protect Our Watchdogs Act and the Keep the Watchdogs Running Act – that would limit the president’s ability to fire agency inspectors general (IGs).
Within his first week in office, Trump fired 18 agency IGs – who are responsible for detecting and preventing Federal agency fraud, abuse, and waste – resulting in bipartisan demands for an explanation of the firings by lawmakers and Federal officials.
“President Trump is methodically demolishing every safeguard against corruption, starting with his calculated purge of independent watchdogs tasked with holding him and his cronies accountable,” Rep. Connolly said in a statement. “This unlawful act was a blatant attack on our democracy and the safety of the American people. Congress must respond to President Trump’s contempt for oversight and accountability.”
Rep. Connolly’s Keep the Watchdogs Running Act would ensure that IGs continue operations in the event that the government shuts down.
The Protect Our Watchdogs Act, introduced by Rep. Connolly and other Oversight and Reform Committee Democrats, would prevent the president from firing an IG in the absence of documented infractions such as neglect of duty, violations of the law, and abuse.
