The Trump administration must reveal what kinds of security clearances have been granted to Elon Musk, a New York federal court ruled Wednesday.
“The public has an interest in knowing whether the leader of SpaceX and Starlink holds the appropriate security clearances,” Judge Denise Cote wrote.
The ruling came in a suit brought byThe New York Times against the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency after the newspaper petitioned the agency last year, under the Freedom of Information Act, about the billionaire tech mogul’s clearances.
The agency repeatedly rejected the request, arguing it could constitute an unwarranted invasion of Musk’s privacy.
In her ruling, the judge wrote that Musk’s public status as a “special government employee” – leading the Trump administration’s DOGE cost-cutting program – as well as the billionaire’s own public comments on his security clearance and personal life, outweighed these concerns.
She pointed to disclosures from Musk seen by millions on social media, including a February post where he wrote: “I’ve had a top secret clearance for many years and have clearances that themselves are classified.”
She also noted Musk’s past comments about drug use, including a 2023 admission he occasionally used ketamine, a federally controlled substance. The judge also pointed to a 2024 statement from the billionaire that after he smoked marijuana during a podcast appearance, NASA conducted regular drug testing.
“Musk’s numerous public statements regarding his own drug use and contacts with foreign leaders only enhance the public interest in disclosure,” Cote added in her ruling.
The Independent has contacted SpaceX, Musk’s main company doing business with the federal government, for comment.
The court decision gives the government until October 17 to submit potential redactions to the security clearance document sought by the paper.
Wednesday’s ruling is the latest legal question hanging over Musk’s controversial tenure in the White House, which ended in May.
DOGE has prompted scores of lawsuits, and the Trump administration has faced additional scrutiny for Musk’s unusual position as a “special government employee,” which allowed him to sidestep some federal disclosure rules.
At the beginning of Trump’s term, federal officials appeared unable or unwilling to disclose who was actually leading DOGE, even as the effort sought to shutter agencies, access sensitive data, and slash billions in federal spending.
A judge accused DOGE leadership of trying to “escape” the “obligations that accompany agencyhood” — including being subject to the Freedom of Information Act, the Privacy Act and the Administrative Procedures Act — “while reaping only its benefits.”
In February, the administration announced that Amy Gleason, a former senior adviser to the U.S. Digital Service, the agency renamed the U.S. DOGE Service, was formally in charge, even though Musk appeared to remain DOGE’s de facto driving force.
