WASHINGTON — Personnel carrying out President Donald Trump’s far-reaching government downsizing campaign, known as the U.S. DOGE Service and spearheaded by Elon Musk, have been instructed to preserve all work-related records, according to a policy document filed this week as part of a lawsuit. 

What You Need To Know

  • Personnel carrying out President Donald Trump’s far-reaching government downsizing campaign, known as the U.S. DOGE Service and spearheaded by Elon Musk, have been instructed to preserve all work-related records, according to a policy document filed this week as part of a lawsuit
  • The disclosure of the “United States DOGE Service Records Retention Policy,” as the document is named, comes as Musk’s downsizing effort has faced some criticism – and legal challenges – over its level of transparency as it carries out its major restructuring of the federal government
  • The document goes on to specifically mention the need to preserve work messages on Signal – the commercial messaging app at the center of the stunning saga this week involving a journalist being – seemingly accidentally – included in a group chat in which top national security officials discussed attacks in Yemen

The disclosure of the “United States DOGE Service Records Retention Policy,” as the document is named, comes as Musk’s downsizing effort has faced some criticism – and legal challenges – over its level of transparency as it carries out its major restructuring of the federal government. 

The directive says that those involved in the campaign are required to comply with certain obligations in the Presidential Records Act, which mandates that material involving a commander in chief’s official duties are documented, preserved and maintained. The DOGE policy document notes such a requirement could apply to any work-related records across a range of formats, listing voicemails, photographs, emails, texts and more. 

The document goes on to specifically mention the need to preserve work messages on Signal — the commercial messaging app at the center of the stunning saga this week involving a journalist being included in a group chat in which top national security officials discussed U.S. attacks in Yemen. 

A federal judge this week ordered officials in the chain and involved in the lawsuit being brought by American Oversight because of it, to preserve all of the chat’s messages, which had been set to disappear, according to pictures shared by the journalist included. 

DOGE personnel were told specifically that disabling auto-delete features “will help with retention and compliance” and were directed to send any government-related messages received on their personal devices to their work ones. The document is dated Tuesday and is listed as having been filed Thursday but it is not clear when the retention guidance was relayed to staff. 

The filing that included the policy came as part of a lawsuit against DOGE involving the release of documents being brought by the same watchdog group – American Oversight – that is suing over the Signal app messages. 

Separately, this week, a federal appeals court temporarily paused an order from a judge requiring Musk and DOGE to turn over records.