The plaintiffs sought a prompt discovery to speed up their case.
Government Efficiency (DOGE) workers and three other federal officials must answer questions under oath in legal cases, a federal judge ruled on February 27.
The four deposits seek essential information to determine the motion for a provisional injunction, US District Judge John Bates said in a 16-page order. The claim, which has not yet been filed, is expected to require that Doge access to some government systems be blocked.
“To help keep deposits limited to appropriate topics and reduce the burden on defendants, the court will limit the plaintiffs to a total of eight hours for the four deposits,” Bates wrote.
The deposition must be completed by March 24th.
The discovery process begins with written questions. The deposit “is intended to resolve the vague and practical problems following the production of written discoveries,” the plaintiff said.
It is not clear which Doge employees will be asked. Doge employees will be asked about the department’s leadership and decision-making structure, as well as the role and responsibilities of all Doge workers who have worked with the agencies that the plaintiffs have appealed.
Other deposits include labor department officials, health and human resources officials, and consumer financial protection officials. Questions for these officials include which DOGE employees have access to the agency’s system and whether the DOGE employees have installed software on the system.
The White House declined to immediately provide comment on the ruling. The Department of Justice did not respond to questions.
The AFL-CIO and other groups filed a case early in February, claiming Doge is violating the law by accessing confidential systems at three agencies.
Bates granted the claim filed by the plaintiff, but the plaintiff said there were ambiguous and conflicting answers on matters relating to Doge, including the structure.
Billionaire Elon Musk, a top adviser to President Donald Trump, was publicly recognized as Doge’s leader for weeks. In a court filing, the White House said Musk was not a Doge employee and did not have decision-making powers. Shortly afterwards, Trump said Musk was in charge of the department.
The White House also said former healthcare executive Amy Gleason is Doge’s proxy manager.
Government lawyers urged the judge to refuse the motion, arguing that the plaintiff’s motion “will try to jump beyond the usual course of litigation… there is an opportunity for the court to rule whether it has jurisdiction to hear this dispute.”
Trade unions and other groups have filed numerous lawsuits against Doge and government agencies against government agencies that are working with cost-cutting advisory agencies. One judge in the case recently blocked the Ministry of Education and the Personnel Management from sharing sensitive data with Doge, and concluded that the privacy rights of plaintiff members do not violate the restraining order.
Bates previously rejected the request for a temporary restraining order in the AFL-CIO case, and the union found that they have not shown that they are likely to be substantially successful in their claims. He is considering whether to grant a temporary injunction.
Bates said on February 27 that it was granting a request for prompt discovery because “the plaintiffs need to determine the contradiction of the actions of the institutions they challenge.”
