Groups fight for release of DOGE deposition videos after judge orders them to be taken down
The deposition videos of two former DOGE staffers went viral earlier this month.
Lawyers for a group of nonprofits appeared in court Tuesday to fight for the release of deposition videos that appear to shed new light on the Department of Government Efficiency's massive grant cuts last year.
After the videos of two former DOGE staffers went viral earlier this month, a federal judge on Friday ordered the videos be taken down over concerns that the staffers faced threats and harassment because of the publicity.
However, during the appearance in federal court Tuesday. U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon appeared skeptical about ordering the videos be removed permanently from the internet, growing visibly frustrated with Justice Department lawyers making the request and saying there is "absolutely nothing" she could do about an alleged uptick in threats against for the former DOGE staffers.
"These people should call law enforcement. Why is that my problem?" she said. "Are they not proud of what they did a year ago? Can they not stand behind the work they did?"
The nonprofits sparked a public uproar this month when they publicly released deposition videos of the former staffers by including them in a motion to end the case in their favor. DOJ attorneys representing the former DOGE staffers argued that the tactic violated the court rules, unfairly brought negative publicity to the former staffers and resulted in some threats against them.
During the hearing in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, McMahon lamented the purported threats -- remarking "we live in a dreadful country full of people with no manners" -- but acknowledged there was little she could do to have the videos removed from the internet. She also seemingly acknowledged that the deposition was not marked as confidential and not subject to a court order protecting certain evidence.
"Can I go and arrest these people? I don't even know who they are," she said about the threats. "We live in a dreadful society where people do not know how to behave properly. It's horrible."
The judge also had criticism for the lawyers representing the nonprofits, saying they violated her case management rules, which prohibit including full depositions as exhibits, rather than select portions of the transcript.
"In the meantime, you have manufactured a judicial document to post this video to YouTube for the whole world to see it," McMahon said, referencing the attempt to release the depositions as exhibits to the groups' recent motion for summary judgement.
Daniel Jacobson, an attorney for the nonprofits, pushed back on the claim that they intended to have the depositions go viral, telling the judge that "there was absolutely no secret plan here."
McMahon did not clearly signal how she might proceed with the case but vowed to issue a ruling by the end of the week.
What the videos showed
According to the now-removed videos that were released as part of an ongoing civil lawsuit related to the funding cuts, both former DOGE staffers were questioned about their push to cut more than $100 million in humanities grants and acknowledged they used DEI keywords and ChatGPT to identify grants to eliminate.
"You don't regret that people might have lost important income ... to support their lives?" an attorney asked one of the staffers about the grant cancellations.
"No. I think it was more important to reduce the federal deficit from $2 trillion to close to zero," the staffer said.
"Did you reduce the federal deficit?" the attorney asked.
"No, we didn't," he said.
In the days following the release of the depositions this month, the videos were shared tens of thousands of times on social media, according to court filings.
Lawyers for the nonprofits pushed back on those claims, arguing they made clear their plans to release the videos and that the materials were not protected by a pre-existing court order.
McMahon agreed to order the videos be removed temporarily, though she acknowledged that the groups may have the right to release the materials.
While the videos resulted in a public backlash, some conservative voices have come to the staffers' defense on social media, arguing they took necessary steps to reduce the federal deficit.
"Legendarily based," Elon Musk, who led DOGE from January to May 2025, wrote on social media last week in response to the videos.
"Thank you for setting the example," an account appearing to belong to one of the men responded.
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