Sources: DOGE staff were ordered to stop using Slack while the group moves from the OMB to the Executive Office of the President, which is not subject to FOIA
https://www.404media.co/email/ dc4f2fa1-e993-4f30-aea1-b985998bd90a/ Mary Branscombe / @marypcbuk : so, Truth Social or X? or are they smart enough to use Signal? [embedded post] Matt Novak / @paleofuture : “Under OMB, it was generally subject to FOIA. Under the White House Chief of Staff, records it creates are generally not subject to FOIA.” [embedded post] Roger McNamee / @moonalice.com : This story makes me wonder if there is any sort of law enforcement still operating in Washington. [embedded post] Cynthia Brumfield / @metacurity.com : You gotta wonder, why all the secrecy? — DOGE Employees Ordered to Stop Using Slack While Agency Transitions to Records System That Is Not Subject to FOIA — www.404media.co/email/dc4f2f... Tyler King / @tyleraking.com : The fake-ass DOGE is attempting to hide their activities inside the Executive Office of the President and split what “used to be” the US Digital Service from the Office of Management and Budget. Mastodon: @The_Icarian@federated.press : The messages indicate that, under Elon Musk's leadership, DOGE is actively taking steps to make sure its communications and records are not subject to the Freedom of Information Act, a records transparency law commonly used by journalists and lawyers to hold government accountable. https://www.404media.co/... @sjvn@mastodon.social : Because the last thing Musk and buddies want is for you to ever know what they've been doing to your social security, medicare, etc., etc., etc. — https://www.404media.co/... Jason Lefkowitz / @jalefkowit@vmst.io : “The messages indicate that, under Elon Musk's leadership, DOGE is actively taking steps to make sure its communications and records are not subject to the Freedom of Information Act, a records transparency law commonly used by journalists and lawyers to hold government accountable.” … X: Andrés Pertierra / @aspertierra : DOGE quickly becoming a state within a state Dan Mihalopoulos / @dmihalopoulos : What is a “legal regime that is not subject to FOIA”?!?!?! If you're communicating with an official about government business, it shouldn't matter if you're texting, emailing, Slacking or on WhatsApp, Viber, Instagram, Snapchat, whatever platform you prefer... Tim Miller / @timodc : I assume the attempts by the Trump administration to use a private server to avoid FOIA will be the lead story on Fox tonight. Molly White / @molly0xfff : [image] Jason Koebler / @jason_koebler : NEW: DOGE employees have been ordered to stop using Slack while the agency transitions itself to a legal regime that is not subject to FOIA and other government transparency laws https://www.404media.co/... Joseph Cox / @josephfcox : New from Employees working at DOGE have been ordered to stop using Slack while lawyers attempt to transition the agency to one that is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act. Means DOGE will be even more secretive and unaccountable https://www.404media.co/... Jackie Singh / @hackingbutlegal : In case you were wondering, the new “DOGE” is the former US Digital Service (USDS), injected with techbro loyalists and rebranded as Musk's takeover machine. Based on what I know of the agency, I expect most of the existing employees to be demoted or fired in the next few days. Forums: Hacker News : DOGE employees ordered to stop using Slack r/technology : DOGE Employees Ordered to Stop Using Slack While Agency Transitions to Records System That Is Not Subject to FOIA r/fednews : DOGE Employees Ordered to Stop Using Slack While Agency Transitions to a Records System Not Subject r/politics : DOGE Employees Ordered to Stop Using Slack While Agency Transitions to a Records System Not Subject to FOIA r/law : DOGE Employees Ordered to Stop Using Slack While Agency Transitions to a Records System Not Subject to FOIA r/inthenews : DOGE Employees Ordered to Stop Using Slack While Agency Transitions to a Records System Not Subject to FOIA See also Mediagazer
Context & Ripple Effects
DOGE emerged with a network of technology and business figures involved in its formation and talent recruitment, as described in earlier reporting on its backers and recruiting network. The reported move changes the institutional setting in which that work is conducted, with consequences for how its internal communications can be requested and reviewed.
Later coverage raised the stakes around DOGE’s handling of sensitive government information, including plans for a centralized database containing residents’ personal data. That makes the reported change in communications and records practices more consequential than a routine collaboration-tool switch.
First-order effects
- DOGE staff reportedly must stop using Slack as the group shifts from OMB to the Executive Office of the President, forcing an immediate change in internal communications and recordkeeping workflows.
- The move would place records created in the new setting outside the FOIA exposure that applied under OMB, reducing a principal route for public access to those communications.
Second-order effects
- Journalists, watchdogs, and litigants seeking insight into DOGE’s work would have less access to contemporaneous internal records, increasing reliance on other government records, disclosures, and sources.
- Agencies working with DOGE may need to distinguish their own records from communications generated within the Executive Office of the President, making accountability and retention boundaries more important.
Third-order effects
- If policy teams can shift work into offices with different disclosure rules, institutional placement becomes a durable lever for managing transparency—not merely an administrative detail.
- The episode points to growing pressure for clearer rules around records retention and oversight when technology-led government initiatives operate across agency and White House structures.
The trend: Government technology initiatives are increasingly making data, communication systems, and organizational placement central to the balance between operational speed and public accountability.