A federal judge on Thursday ordered four unspecified Trump administration officials to testify about the activities of the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in the federal government.

The order is the first of its kind and is an attempt to provide more clarity on what the new department actually does after it requests access to sensitive government databases. The department's requests have triggered over a dozen lawsuits. 

U.S. District Judge John Bates said the attorneys for the plaintiffs will be allowed to question an official from the DOGE’s White House headquarters, and one each from the Labor Department, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The depositions will be capped at a total of eight hours, and are expected to clarify whether the department's activities pose risks to sensitive information, according to Politico.

“It would be strange to permit defendants to submit evidence that addresses critical factual issues and proceed to rule on a preliminary injunction motion without permitting plaintiffs to explore those factual issues through very limited discovery,” Bates wrote.

Bates' order also allows attorneys for the plaintiffs to submit a limited set of written questions to the agencies before the examination. The agency officials must be knowledgeable about the data security and access issues within their respective departments.

The Justice Department has objected to the order, but Bates said the plaintiffs should be allowed to build their case.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.