The new Department of Government Efficiency claims to be purging deceased people from the Social Security rolls, cutting federal employees’ credit card use and hunting down “wasteful contracts and grants” all over Washington, D.C.
The brainchild of tech mogul Elon Musk has also been a defendant in court fights in which DOGE is accused of accessing citizens’ sensitive data, hacking at the federal workforce in ways that may compromise government services and potentially degrading national security.
PublicSource wants to know: How is DOGE interacting with key federal agencies regarding their operations in and around Pittsburgh?
So far, courts have held that DOGE and its activities are subject to the federal Freedom of Information Act. So this month, PublicSource reporters across our six core coverage areas — local government, economy and housing, environment, K-12 education, higher education and health — submitted FOIA requests to agencies related to their beats:
- The Office of Personnel Management
- The Department of Homeland Security
- Immigration and Customs Enforcement
- The Department of Housing and Urban Development
- The Department of Education
- The National Institutes of Health
- The Environmental Protection Agency [EPA].
In all cases, we requested documents in the possession of the agency that meet all of the following criteria:
- Dated on or after Jan. 20, 2025 through the present
- Include the word “Pittsburgh” (or, in the case of one agency, a broader geography)
- Include either “Department of Government Efficiency” or the acronym “DOGE.”
Records requests can unearth revealing communications. A PublicSource FOIA in 2021, for instance, showed how officials at multiple levels worked to move a key boundary line within the Hill District.
But FOIA offices were backlogged long before President Donald Trump began his current term, and there have been reports that some departments have dismissed staff assigned to handling information requests. The FOIA law also includes exceptions to the general rule that government documents are public upon request. Last year PublicSource used FOIA in pursuit of documents describing EPA’s interactions with EQT Corp., in an effort that stalled when the company objected to release. So this might take a while.
We’ll track the responses we receive below, and let you know when requested documents arrive, and what they include.
Know something about DOGE’s effects on the Pittsburgh area? Read this to learn about options for sharing your insights with PublicSource.
Rich Lord is the managing editor of PublicSource, and can be reached at rich@publicsource.org.
