The Department of Government Efficiency, led by Elon Musk, is likely subject to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), a federal judge ruled Monday, noting that the newly formed department had been run in ‘unusual secrecy.’

U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper, an Obama appointee, sided with the government watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in rejecting the Trump administration’s argument that DOGE does not have to respond to public records requests.

The administration claimed that DOGE is an arm of the Executive Office of the President, making it not subject to FOIA requests, which allow the public to request access to records produced by government agencies that had not previously been disclosed.

Cooper ruled that DOGE exercises ‘substantial independent authority’ much greater than the other parts of the executive office that are usually exempt from the FOIA law.

The ruling could force DOGE to become more transparent about its role in the administration’s mass firings of the federal workforce, as well as its dismantling of government agencies and decisions to cancel contracts.

‘Canceling any government contract would seem to require substantial authority—and canceling them on this scale certainly does,’ Cooper wrote.

The judge said DOGE ‘appears to have the power not just to evaluate federal programs, but to drastically reshape and even eliminate them wholesale,’ which he said the department declined to refute.

Cooper also said its ‘operations thus far have been marked by unusual secrecy,’ citing reports about DOGE’s use of an outside server, its employees’ refusal to identify themselves to career officials and their use of the encrypted app Signal to communicate.

The watchdog filed the lawsuit on Feb. 20 after filing FOIA requests seeking further information on DOGE’s operations, including communications like internal government emails and memos.

The group had asked Cooper to order DOGE and the Office of Management and Budget to release the records by Monday, arguing that the public and Congress needed the information during the debate over government funding legislation that must be passed by Friday to avert a partial government shutdown, but the judge declined to set a Friday deadline to produce the records.

‘Unfortunately for CREW, it satisfies none of the factors entitling it to preliminary relief ordering production of its OMB requests by today’s date,’ Cooper wrote.

Instead, the judge ordered for the records to be produced on a ‘rolling basis as soon as practicable,’ saying voters and Congress deserve timely information on DOGE given the ‘unprecedented’ authority it was exercising to reshape the government.

This case is one of several lawsuits targeting the administration’s argument that DOGE is not subject to FOIA requests, but the other cases are still in earlier stages.

Reuters contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he would purchase a Tesla car to support his senior advisor Elon Musk amid nationwide protests against the electric automaker.

Trump said ‘Radical Left Lunatics’ are attempting to boycott Tesla, which he called Musk’s ‘baby.’

‘To Republicans, Conservatives, and all great Americans, Elon Musk is ‘putting it on the line’ in order to help our Nation, and he is doing a FANTASTIC JOB!’ Trump wrote on Truth Social shortly after midnight on Tuesday. ‘But the Radical Left Lunatics, as they often do, are trying to illegally and collusively boycott Tesla, one of the World’s great automakers, and Elon’s ‘baby,’ in order to attack and do harm to Elon, and everything he stands for.’

‘They tried to do it to me at the 2024 Presidential Ballot Box, but how did that work out?’ Trump continued.

The president explained that he was going to purchase a car from Tesla to show his support for Musk.

‘In any event, I’m going to buy a brand new Tesla tomorrow morning as a show of confidence and support for Elon Musk, a truly great American,’ Trump wrote. ‘Why should he be punished for putting his tremendous skills to work in order to help MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN???’

‘Thank you, President @realDonaldTrump!’ Musk responded on X.

Tesla car owners, dealerships and charging stations have been targeted nationwide by protesters and vandals over Musk’s involvement with the Trump administration’s newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Protesters rallied outside Tesla dealerships on Saturday, holding signs denouncing Musk and DOGE, and cars and windows at an Oregon Tesla dealership were damaged by gunshots fired by protesters last week.

A man was also arrested after Molotov cocktails were thrown at a Tesla dealership in Salem, Oregon.

Additionally, several Tesla charging stations have been set on fire in Massachusetts, and the U.S. attorney’s office in Colorado charged a suspect after police say they found a number of explosives and concerning messages at a Tesla dealership.

Fox News’ Stepheny Price contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump has been back in the Oval Office for 50 days, which has included a whirlwind of executive orders, a breakneck pace of gutting and rebuilding agencies within the federal government, and rolling out economic plans the president says will be a boon to U.S. workers and industry. 

‘To my fellow citizens, America is back,’ Trump declared in a joint speech before Congress March 4. 

‘Six weeks ago, I stood beneath the dome of this Capitol and proclaimed the dawn of the golden Age of America,’ he continued. ‘From that moment on, it has been nothing but swift and unrelenting action to usher in the greatest and most successful era in the history of our country. We have accomplished more in 43 days than most administrations accomplished in four years or eight years. And we are just getting started.’ 

Trump has signed at least 89 executive orders in his 50 days in office. Trump signed more executive orders in his first 50 days than any other president signed in their first year going back to the Carter administration in 1977, data compiled by Fox News show. 

Trump’s executive orders have been expansive, addressing issues ranging from ending the practice of biological males playing on girls sports teams, renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, to establishing the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). 

Amid his executive order and action blitz, Trump and his administration have been hit with at least 102 lawsuits, including repeated lawsuits surrounding DOGE and its chair, Elon Musk. 

Musk and his DOGE team have been poring through various federal agencies in the search of government overspending, mismanagement and fraud, as well as slimming down the agencies overall through thousands of federal layoffs, including probationary employees who have not secured full-time employment. DOGE’s work has struck the ire of Democrats and federal employees who have staged repeated protests over the audits and firings in Washington, D.C., and across the U.S.

The president has meanwhile touted DOGE’s findings in public remarks, including rattling off a series of examples during his speech before a joint session of Congress. 

‘Forty-five million dollars for diversity, equity and inclusion scholarships in Burma,’ Trump said as he provided examples of federal waste March 4 after thanking Musk for his work. ‘Forty million to improve the social and economic inclusion of sedentary migrants. Nobody knows what that is. Eight million to promote LGBTQI+ in the African nation of Lesotho, which nobody has ever heard of. Sixty million dollars for indigenous peoples and Afro-Colombian empowerment in Central America. Sixty million. Eight million for making mice transgender.’

Trump’s speech marked his first before both chambers of Congress since his return to the Oval Office. Trump spoke for about an hour and 40 minutes, notching the longest address a president has delivered before a joint session of Congress, according to the American Presidency Project at the University of California at Santa Barbara. The longest speech on record previously was held by former President Bill Clinton, when he spoke for one hour and 28 minutes during his State of the Union Address in 2000. 

Immigration was a large focus of his address, as well as his first 50 days in office. His administration is touting in March that illegal border crossings have fallen to the lowest levels on record, cratering by 94% since February 2024 under the Biden administration, while massive deportation efforts between multiple law enforcement agencies have removed violent criminal illegal immigrants from the nation. 

Trump has also honored the American lives lost to illegal immigrant murders, including remembering Laken Riley and Jocelyn Nungaray during his speech on Capitol Hill. 

Trump signed the Laken Riley Act into law upon taking office in January, which directs Immigration and Customs Enforcement to detain illegal immigrants arrested or charged with theft-related crimes, or those accused of assaulting a police officer. He also named a National Wildlife Refuge after Jocelyn Nungaray, a 12-year-old girl from Texas who was sexually assaulted and murdered by two illegal immigrants in June 2024. 

Trump’s economic policies have also been rolled out at a fast and furious pace, including 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, a 10% tariff on imports from China to help end the flow of deadly fentanyl into the U.S., as well as announcing a plan for reciprocal tariffs on foreign nations, which are set to take effect in April. 

Trump has championed that reciprocal tariffs will open the doors to foreign industries setting up shop in America to avoid the tax on imports to the U.S.

‘They can build a factory here, a plant or whatever it may be, here,’ Trump said of the reciprocal tariffs in February. ‘And that includes the medical, that includes cars, that includes chips and semiconductors. That includes everything. If you build here, you have no tariffs whatsoever. And I think that’s what’s going to happen. I think our country is going to be flooded with jobs.’

A handful of businesses and manufacturers, both U.S.-based and those abroad, have announced billions of dollars in investments since Trump took office, including Apple announcing a $500 billion investment in February that will generate 20,000 jobs in the United States and Saudi Arabia, pledging $600 billion in the U.S. over the next four years. 

Businesses also have pledged to increase U.S.-based production efforts since Trump took office, including auto company Stellantis announcing it will make its latest version of the Dodge Durango in Michigan, and will also reopen an assembly plant in Illinois — while Mercedes-Benz pledged to grow its U.S.-based vehicle production. 

On the international stage, Trump has secured the release of a handful of American hostages held abroad, including six who were held in Venezuela, two who were held in Afghanistan, one in Russia, one in Belarus and another American who was held in Hamas’ captivity. 

The administration also secured the arrest of the terrorist behind the 2021 Abbey Gate attack in Afghanistan, which killed 13 U.S. service members amid the U.S.’ disastrous withdrawal from the country under the Biden admin. 

Trump has met with world leaders at the White House since his return to the Oval Office, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, UK PM Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Jordanian King Abdullah II bin al-Hussein and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. 

Trump met with Zelenskyy in a fiery meeting Feb. 28 as the two leaders looked to continue negotiations to end the Russia–Ukraine war, and also ink a deal to recoup the cost of U.S. aid sent to the war-torn country by gaining access to rare-earth minerals like titanium, iron and uranium in Ukraine. 

The deal was put on ice after Zelenskyy traded barbs with Vice President JD Vance and Trump during the meeting, culminating in Zelenskyy leaving the White House ahead of schedule as a planned press conference was canceled. U.S. leaders, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, recently arrived in Saudi Arabia to speak with the Ukraine delegation to discuss possible peace agreements. 

War had also raged between Israel and Hamas ahead of Trump taking office, with his transition team earning credit for helping secure a ceasefire in the waning days of the Biden administration. Trump announced in February, when Netanyahu visited the White House, that he is looking into ‘long-term ownership position’ over the Gaza Strip in order to level it, rebuild it and ‘create an economic development’ that would prevent terrorists from gaining power in the area. 

Just ’50 days in office and he has already established himself as the most consequential President of our time,’ the White House said in a statement Monday celebrating Trump’s 50 days of accomplishments. ‘The winning never stops — and President Trump is just getting started.’ 

Attorney General Pam Bondi spent the first month at the Justice Department arresting ISIS-linked terrorists and violent illegal immigrants, dismantling drug cartels and more, telling Fox News Digital she will ‘continue working day in and day out to deliver on President Trump’s Make America Safe Agenda.’

The Justice Department’s core mission under Bondi’s leadership is focused on fighting violent crime while undertaking key initiatives to protect women’s sports; eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion; and fight antisemitism. 

Since taking her oath Feb. 5, under Bondi’s leadership the DOJ has arrested an ISIS-linked criminal in New York who allegedly financially supported ISIS; arrested the ISIS-K attack planner who allegedly orchestrated the attack at Abbey Gate in Afghanistan that led to the death of 13 U.S. service members; and arrested two illegal immigrants accused of running one of the largest human smuggling rings in the United States. 

In March, the DOJ also secured custody of 29 defendants from Mexico who are facing charges in districts around the country relating to racketeering, drug-trafficking, murder, illegal use of firearms, money laundering and other crimes in the U.S., including Mexican drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero, who had been wanted for and accused of torturing and murdering a Drug Enforcement Administration agent in 1985. This followed a bilateral meeting with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and counterparts in the government of Mexico.

‘This Department of Justice is arresting violent terrorists, dismantling cartel networks, and rooting DEI out of American institutions,’ Bondi told Fox News Digital. ‘We will continue working day in and day out to deliver on President Trump’s Make America Safe Agenda.’

Bondi also warned California, Maine and Minnesota to comply with the federal antidiscrimination laws that require them to keep boys out of women’s sports or face legal action. 

She also vowed that the DOJ will ‘hold accountable states and state entities that violate federal law.’ 

The Justice Department also sued Illinois and New York earlier in February for defying federal immigration laws, with Bondi warning others that they ‘stand ready to sue states and state entities that defy federal antidiscrimination laws.’ 

Meanwhile, earlier in March, ISIS-K member Mohammad Sharifullah — accused of plotting the 2021 Abbey Gate bombing that killed 13 U.S. military members and at least 160 civilians amid the chaotic Biden administration withdrawal from Afghanistan — was extradited to ‘face American justice,’ FBI Director Kash Patel said. 

‘3 and 1/2 years later, justice for our 13,’ Patel wrote on X. 

Sharifullah is charged with providing and conspiring to provide material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization resulting in death and was expected to make his first federal court appearance in Virginia Wednesday.

‘This is just the beginning,’ a Justice Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital. ‘Attorney General Bondi is completely dedicated in her mission to refocus the Department of Justice on fighting crime, prosecuting dangerous criminals, holding rogue jurisdictions accountable for flouting federal law, and removing DEI from our institutions.’ 

The spokesperson added: ‘The DOJ has more to come on all those fronts and more.’ 

House Republicans are accusing Democrats of waging their opposition campaign against the GOP’s government funding plan over their fury at Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) efforts.

‘They hate Elon Musk and Donald Trump more than they love their country,’ Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., told Fox News Digital. ‘They’re just losing their f—— minds.’

Mace was still optimistic that some Democratic lawmakers will vote for the legislation on Tuesday afternoon, ‘I mean, they voted for every CR under the sun when [former President Joe Biden] was president. That’s what this is — it’s just political games.’

First-term Rep. Jeff Crank, R-Colo., told Fox News Digital, ‘It’s either [President Donald Trump] or Elon Musk or a combination thereof, right?’

‘They’ve had nothing but political losses from November forward. Last week was the worst political loss I think they’ve suffered in a long time,’ Crank said, referring to Democrats’ intra-party divisions over some lawmakers’ disruptions during Trump’s speech to Congress. ‘I guess they’ve got to keep fighting, but what they should do is the right thing: Keep the government open.’

Musk and his DOGE work have been met with near-universal condemnation by Democrats, even those who have agreed with the need to cut the federal bureaucracy. 

Democrats have held Musk up as a political boogeyman, an unelected billionaire who was given too much access to the federal government that he also profits from as a military contractor.

But Republicans, with some exceptions, have defended his work as necessary.

Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., told Fox News Digital that Musk is ‘doing damage to our government’ but denied his work being a factor in his likely decision to oppose the funding bill.

‘Musk doesn’t live rent-free in my head,’ Crow said. ‘I’m not making legislative decisions based upon Elon Musk and what he does and doesn’t do in any given day… I’m focusing on my constituents.’

Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., when asked about Musk, did not mention the billionaire at all. Instead, he pivoted to criticize House Republicans for putting a stopgap government funding bill known as a continuing resolution (CR) up for a vote, rather than dealing with a fresh slate of fiscal year (FY) 2025 appropriations bills.

‘Republicans have said for the longest time, right, that CRs are no longer the way to fund the government. Speaker Johnson promised to do individual spending bills. That was his pitch to his colleagues in order to remain speaker. OK. He’s the one who’s going back on his word to his own colleagues,’ Moskowitz said.

But Democrats have nevertheless used Musk in their public broadsides against the bill.

‘It takes away veterans’ healthcare. It takes away critical research funding. Those are the things that House Republicans are willing to do just to give Elon Musk and Donald Trump’s friends continued tax breaks. That’s unacceptable to House Democrats,’ House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., told reporters on Monday.

Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., wrote on X, ‘Trump and Musk are illegally shutting down federal agencies, mass firing federal workers, and freezing congressionally mandated funding. It’s causing massive job losses and economic chaos for my constituents, and the Republican CR would continue this disaster. I will vote no.’

The proposed CR roughly freezes government funding at FY 2024 levels through the beginning of FY 2026, on Oct 1. It includes extra funding for defense while cutting nondefense funding by roughly $13 billion.

House GOP leadership aides said over the weekend that the bill includes some added funding for veterans’ healthcare — putting them at odds with Democrats’ messaging.

Democratic lawmakers normally vote in droves to avert a government shutdown, but this time it’s likely House Republicans will need to share the burden largely on their own.

As of Monday night, several Republicans are still undecided on how they will vote, despite Trump making calls to GOP lawmakers who are on the fence.

Greenlanders will head to the polls to vote in their country’s parliamentary election on Tuesday, in what will likely prove to be a historic vote not because of any seismic shifts within the nation but because of the geopolitical message it will send.

Independence from Denmark is not on the ballot itself, but who is elected to Greenland’s parliament will signal how the country could move forward in not only divorcing itself from Copenhagen, but in handling what some critics have perceived as threats issued by President Donald Trump.

Parliamentary elections on the world’s largest island, a nation of less than 60,000 people, have previously picked up scant coverage due to their relatively low impact on world affairs.

But all that changed in January when, ahead of his inauguration, Trump refused to rule out the possibility of ‘acquiring’ Greenland through economic or military means and has since repeated his interest in the strategically important island.

While the majority of Greenlanders support independence from Denmark, they also align in their opposition to Trump’s ambitions for the island nation.

There is not a single lawmaker in Greenland that ran for election in this cycle on becoming a part of the U.S., but the leading opposition party known as Naleraq, which currently holds just five of the 31 seats in Greenland’s parliament, may have a solution to achieve independence while also appealing to Trump’s interests. 

Qupanuk Olsen, a 39-year-old running under the Naleraq party who has garnered a massive social media presence with over a million followers spread over Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, shared a video in January where she addressed questions regarding her opinion on the matter.

Without directly noting her position on Trump’s ambitions, as she said she wants to keep her social media presence as ‘A-political as possible,’ she emphasized her support for expanding Greenland’s partnerships.

‘I strongly believe in Greenland’s independence,’ she went on to say, ‘To achieve this we must expand our collaborations and establish business relationships with countries beyond Denmark. 

‘We Greenlanders, Kalaallit, deserve to be independent,’ she continued in reference to the Greenlandic Inuit ethnic group. ‘And I hope we will strengthen our connections with our fellow Inuit in Canada and Alaska significantly more in the near future.’

Though Greenland won self-rule in 1979, with Denmark continuing to oversee issues relating to defense and foreign policy, the Naleraq party has pushed for a swift transition to complete independence.

The leading opposition party has argued this could be achieved by bolstering existing business opportunities like its fishing industry, as well as by establishing defensive agreements with nations like the U.S., in which it would allow Washington to continue to operate its military interests from the island in exchange for security assurances without becoming a U.S. territory. 

Though it remains unclear if such a deal would win over Trump, who could be viewing the Artic nation as an untapped opportunity for its rare earth minerals and oil and gas reserves – which Greenland has blocked even the EU from accessing. 

The White House did not respond to Fox News Digital’s questions over whether expanding ties with Greenland would appease Trump’s ambitions, though on Sunday Trump reiterated his position on the island nation.

‘As I made clear during my Joint Address to Congress, the United States strongly supports the people of Greenland’s right to determine their own future,’ he said on his social media platform Truth Social.  ‘We will continue to keep you safe, as we have since World War II.’ 

‘We are ready to invest billions of dollars to create new jobs and make you rich  – And, if you so choose, we welcome you to be a part of the Greatest Nation anywhere in the World, the United States of America,’ he added. 

Trump drew rebuke in some quarters following his address to Congress, where his tone on Greenland was softer than previous remarks, but he concluded by saying, ‘One way or the other, we’re going to get it.’

According to a January poll, some 85% of Greenlanders oppose Trump’s push to make Greenland a part of the U.S., including Prime Minister Mute Egede, who has been not only a huge proponent of independence from Denmark, but who has also been staunchly opposed to Trump’s interest in Greenland.

Egede’s Inuit Ataqatigiit party, which currently holds 11 seats, is expected to pick up an even greater majority following the Tuesday election. 

Egede, who has repeatedly told the U.S. president that Greenland is ‘not for sale,’ on Monday said Trump’s unpredictability was sowing international chaos.

‘The things that are happening in the world right now worry me quite a lot,’ Egede told Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR). ‘There is a world order that is faltering on many fronts, and perhaps a president in the United States who is very unpredictable in a way that makes people feel insecure.’

Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was arrested at Manila Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Tuesday following an order from the International Criminal Court (ICC), which is investigating a crime against humanity case filed against the former leader.

Duterte, 79, was taken into custody at the airport in the Philippines following his trip to Hong Kong, The Associated Press reports.

The ICC has been investigating ‘massive killings that happened under the former president’s deadly crackdown against illegal drugs,’ The AP said via President Ferdinand Marcos’ office.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.