Judge Rejects Emergency Bid to Compel Musk-Related FCC FOIA Release
However, the Court Order calls for faster document production on Musk’s DOGE program.
WASHINGTON, August 27, 2025 – A federal judge has ordered the Federal Communications Commission to accelerate the release of records that could reveal whether Elon Musk’s hand-picked “efficiency” aides at the agency gained access to information potentially advantageous to his SpaceX and Starlink ventures.
In February, Frequency Forward, an advocacy group that pushes for transparency and accountability at the FCC, and journalist Nina Burleigh, who covered the Clinton White House for Time magazine, sued the FCC in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia under the Freedom of Information Act.
The plaintiffs requested that the FCC turn over records detailing communications between Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) staff and FCC employees. The plaintiffs suspected that DOGE staffers at the FCC had roles and access that raised questions about conflicts of interest given Musk’s extensive business interests in areas regulated by the FCC, namely SpaceX and Starlink.
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