CREW Just Won Out, In DC. Judge Cooper Holds Elon Musk And DOGE Must Generate 1,000 Pages A Month Of The FOIA Documents... Essentially Immediately.

As we said it would -- CREW has prevailed. The able Judge will hold the documents generated via FOIA requests in his chambers until he decides summary judgment (a motion DOGE is likely to lose in a few weeks).

Then, these thousands and thousands of documents will be made. . . public. Excellent -- smoke THAT, Elon and Tangerine 2.0:

. . .MINUTE ORDER:

The Court has reviewed [30] and [33] the parties' joint status reports concerning production of OMB and USDS records, respectively. The Court hereby directs both OMB and USDS to process the records responsive to CREW's requests at a rate of 1000 pages per month. Although the [24] government's motion for summary judgment remains pending, the Court already held that USDS is likely subject to FOIA. Mem. Op., ECF No. 18, at 23-28. Thus, the Court ordered USDS to begin processing records because "if USDS does not even begin processing the request until after the question of whether it is subject to FOIA is litigated on the merits, a decision in CREW's favor will likely be followed by additional processing delays." Op. Denying Mot. for Recons., ECF No. 23, at 8. In accordance with that holding, USDS, along with OMB, must begin processing responsive records now. The Court will not order USDS to produce any documents to CREW until after the Court rules on USDS's motion for summary judgment, however. . . .

Turning to the appropriate processing rate, although the government is correct that "a production rate of 500 pages per month has been approved" in routine cases in this district, Middle E. F. v. U.S. Dep't of Homeland Sec., 297 F. Supp. 3d 183, 187 (D.D.C. 2018), this is not such a case. As the Court explained in its two prior opinions, the records requested here are "important" and "directly tied to [] current, ongoing" actions by USDS, which "are of the highest national concern." Mem. Op., ECF No. 18, at 17, 32. The Court thus held that "Congress and the public must receive the requested information 'in a timely fashion' such that they can participate in these 'ongoing public and congressional debates about issues of vital national importance.'" Id. at 19. Indeed, the government has already granted expedited processing of both of CREW's requests directed to OMB. Compl. ¶¶ 94, 100. And the Court held that the request directed to USDS was also likely entitled to expedited processing. Mem. Op. at 30.

For these reasons, a somewhat higher processing rate of 1,000 pages per month is appropriate for records responsive to both the OMB and USDS Requests. Although the government indicates that USDS does not have a FOIA Office, it has not shown that it would be unduly burdensome to impose the same processing rate on USDS because, as the Court already noted, "USDS [has provided] no reason why the existing FOIA office at OMB, or those elsewhere within the Executive Office of the President, could not assist with processing the narrow USDS Request." Op. Denying Mot. for Recons at 17.

Nevertheless, the Court expects CREW to work in good faith to narrow and prioritize its record requests, which have generated a relatively large amount of potentially responsive documents. The Court might entertain a request for a higher processing rate should it be satisfied that CREW has done so and the production is yielding meaningful results. Signed by Judge Christopher R. Cooper on 4/10/2025. . . .

Excellent -- and now, you know. Just as we said -- that "enigma, wrapped in a riddle -- and floating on a cloud" argument was never going to fly.

नमस्ते