Department of Government Efficiency#Executive orders

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After financially backing Trump and other Republicans since 2023,{{cite news |last1=Mattioli |first1=Dana |last2=Palazzolo |first2=Joe |last3=Safdar |first3=Khadeeja |date=October 2, 2024 |title=Elon Musk Gave Tens of Millions to Republican Causes Far Earlier Than Previously Known |url=https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/elon-musk-political-donations-stephen-miller-desantis-39464294 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241002235549/https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/elon-musk-political-donations-stephen-miller-desantis-39464294 |archive-date=October 2, 2024 |access-date=October 3, 2024 |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal}}{{Cite news |date=July 29, 2024 |title=How Elon Musk came to endorse Donald Trump |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/07/29/musk-trump-endorsement-immigration/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240919110730/https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/07/29/musk-trump-endorsement-immigration/ |archive-date=September 19, 2024 |access-date=November 9, 2024 |newspaper=The Washington Post}} Musk became the largest individual donor of the 2024 election cycle.{{Cite news |last1=Thadani |first1=Trisha |last2=Morse |first2=Clara Ence |date=December 6, 2024 |title=Elon Musk is now America's largest political donor |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/12/06/elon-musk-trump-campaign-spending-fec/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250101000528/https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/12/06/elon-musk-trump-campaign-spending-fec/ |archive-date=January 1, 2025 |access-date=December 31, 2024 |newspaper=The Washington Post |language=en |issn=0190-8286}} He spent more than US$290 million in campaign contributions.{{Cite web |last1=Wright |first1=David |last2=Leeds-Matthews |first2=Alex |date=February 1, 2025 |title=Elon Musk spent more than $290 million on the 2024 election, year-end FEC filings show |url=https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/01/politics/elon-musk-2024-election-spending-millions/index.html |access-date=February 14, 2025 |publisher=CNN}} In September 2024, he described deregulation as the only path to his Mars colonization program.{{Cite tweet |number=1834640216721965470 |user=elonmusk |title=Starship will make life multiplanetary, preserving life as know from extinction events on Earth, so long as it is not smothered by bureaucracy. There is more government regulatory smothering every year. If this continues, all large projects in the United States will be illegal |first=Elon |last=Musk |author-link=Elon Musk}} In October, he appeared on Trump's stage with an "Occupy Mars" t-shirt.{{Cite web| last = Gault| first = Matthew| title = Elon Musk Leaps Into the Meme History Books at Trump Rally| work = Gizmodo| access-date = 2025-04-25| date = 2024-10-07| url = https://gizmodo.com/elon-musk-leaps-into-the-meme-history-books-at-trump-rally-2000508235}}

On September 5, 2024, Trump promised to the Economic Club of New York: "at the suggestion of Elon Musk [...] I will create a Government Efficiency Commission tasked with conducting a complete financial and performance audit of the entire federal government and making recommendations for drastic reforms."{{cite news|work=Associated Press News|title=Trump says he'd create a government efficiency commission led by Elon Musk|first=Jonathan J.|last=Cooper|date=5 September 2024|url=https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-elon-musk-government-efficiency-commission-e831ed5dc2f6a56999e1a70bb0a4eaeb|archive-date=December 2, 2024|access-date=November 9, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241202204949/https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-elon-musk-government-efficiency-commission-e831ed5dc2f6a56999e1a70bb0a4eaeb|url-status=live}}{{Cite web| title = Remarks by President Trump at the Economic Club of New York| access-date = 2025-03-01| url = https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-economic-club-new-york-new-york-ny/}} Javier Milei revealed that, prior to the public declaration, Musk had called Federico Sturzenegger to discuss emulating his ministry's deregulation model in the United States.{{Cite web |date=November 8, 2024 |title=Milei brindó un nuevo apoyo a Sturzenegger y afirmó que Elon Musk imitará su gestión en EEUU |trans-title=Milei provided new support to Sturzenegger and stated that Elon Musk will imitate his management in the US |url=https://www.infobae.com/economia/2024/11/08/milei-brindo-un-nuevo-apoyo-a-sturzenegger-y-afirmo-que-elon-musk-imitara-su-gestion-en-eeuu/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241113103220/https://www.infobae.com/economia/2024/11/08/milei-brindo-un-nuevo-apoyo-a-sturzenegger-y-afirmo-que-elon-musk-imitara-su-gestion-en-eeuu/ |archive-date=November 13, 2024 |access-date=November 13, 2024 |website=infobae |language=es-ES}}

The New York Times compared the project to Theodore Roosevelt's Keep Commission, Ronald Reagan's Grace Commission, and vice president Al Gore's National Partnership for Reinventing Government.{{cite web |last1=Ngo |first1=Madeleine |last2=Fahrenthold |first2=David |title=Musk Wants to Slash $2 Trillion in Federal Spending. Is That Possible? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/16/us/politics/dept-government-efficiency-explainer.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=November 25, 2024 |date=November 16, 2024 |archive-date=November 25, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241125050317/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/16/us/politics/dept-government-efficiency-explainer.html |url-status=live}}

The project emerged from a discussion in the summer of 2024 between Musk and Trump, where Musk floated the idea of a "government efficiency commission".{{cite news| last1=Sullivan| first1=Kate| last2=Duffy| first2=Clare| last3=Bradner| first3=Eric| title=Trump and Musk host friendly conversation on X after delay from technical difficulties| url=https://edition.cnn.com/2024/08/12/politics/elon-trump-twitter-interview-x/index.html| publisher=CNN| date=13 August 2024| access-date=27 February 2025| quote=Musk at one point suggested Trump should form a new presidential commission focused on "government efficiency" and appoint him to it. Trump immediately replied, "I'd love it."}}{{cite web| title=LISTEN: Donald J. Trump's space| url=https://x.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1823144316014911820| website=x.com| date=13 August 2024| access-date=27 February 2025| quote=MUSK: I think it would be great to just have a government efficiency commission that takes a look at these things and just ensures that the taxpayer money, the taxpayers hard-earned money is spent in a good way. I'd be happy to help out on such a commission [...] TRUMP: I'd love it. (1hr49m58s)}}{{Cite web| title = Elon Musk and Donald Trump Interview| access-date = 2025-03-01| url = https://www.rev.com/transcripts/elon-musk-and-donald-trump-interview}} In August, Trump said that he would be open to giving Musk an advisory role.{{Cite news |last=Shepardson |first=David |date=August 20, 2024 |title=Trump says he may end EV tax credit; is open to naming Elon Musk as an adviser |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-says-he-would-consider-ending-7500-electric-vehicle-credit-2024-08-19/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241206064735/https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-says-he-would-consider-ending-7500-electric-vehicle-credit-2024-08-19/ |archive-date=December 6, 2024 |access-date=November 13, 2024 |work=Reuters}} The next day, an X user suggested "Department of Government Efficiency"; Musk replied "That is the perfect name",{{Cite news |last=Times |first=The New York |date=2025-02-28 |title=How Musk Built DOGE: Timeline and Key Takeaways |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/28/us/politics/musk-doge-timeline-takeaways.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250426092000/https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/28/us/politics/musk-doge-timeline-takeaways.html |archive-date=26 April 2025 |access-date=2025-05-07 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite news |last1=Swan |first1=Jonathan |last2=Schleifer |first2=Theodore |last3=Haberman |first3=Maggie |last4=Mac |first4=Ryan |last5=Conger |first5=Kate |last6=Nehamas |first6=Nicholas |last7=Ngo |first7=Madeleine |date=2025-02-28 |title=How Elon Musk Executed His Takeover of the Federal Bureaucracy |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/28/us/politics/musk-federal-bureaucracy-takeover.html |access-date=2025-03-02 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250305021700/https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/28/us/politics/musk-federal-bureaucracy-takeover.html |archive-date=March 5, 2025}} and posted "I am willing to serve" with an AI-created image of him in front of a lectern marked "D.O.G.E."{{Cite news |last=Cameron |first=Hugh |date=August 20, 2024 |title=Elon Musk 'Willing to Serve' in Trump Cabinet |url=https://www.newsweek.com/elon-musk-donald-trump-cabinet-position-offer-meme-1941624 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241007003559/https://www.newsweek.com/elon-musk-donald-trump-cabinet-position-offer-meme-1941624 |archive-date=October 7, 2024 |access-date=November 13, 2024 |work=Newsweek}} The DOGE acronym refers to an internet meme of a Shiba Inu dog{{cite web |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/trump-says-elon-musk-will-lead-department-government-efficiency-vivek-rcna179899 |title=Trump says Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will head a new 'Department of Government Efficiency' |date=November 12, 2024 |publisher=NBC News |first1=David |last1=Ingram |first2=Vaughn |last2=Hillyard |access-date=February 24, 2025}} and to Dogecoin, a meme coin that Musk promotes, making "Department of Government Efficiency" a backronym.{{Cite news |last1=Trotta |first1=Daniel |last2=Beech |first2=Eric |date=November 13, 2024 |title=Trump names Elon Musk to lead government efficiency drive |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-says-elon-musk-vivek-ramaswamy-will-lead-department-government-efficiency-2024-11-13/ |access-date=December 22, 2024 |quote=The acronym of the new department – DOGE – also references the name of the cryptocurrency dogecoin that Musk promotes.}}{{cite web|last=Limehouse|first=Jonathan|title=What is 'Doge'? Explaining the meme and cryptocurrency after Elon Musk's appointment to D.O.G.E.|website=USA Today|date=2024-11-13|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2024/11/13/what-is-doge-elon-musk/76255384007/}}

Days after the election, a small group, including Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy, Howard Lutnick, and Brad Smith, started meeting at Mar-a-Lago. On November 12, Trump announced that Musk and Ramaswamy would lead DOGE and analogized it to the Manhattan Project.{{Cite web |title=Statement by President-elect Donald J. Trump Announcing That Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy Will Lead the Department of Government Efficiency ("DOGE") |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/statement-president-elect-donald-j-trump-announcing-that-elon-musk-and-vivek-ramaswamy |access-date=2025-02-27 |website=The American Presidency Project}}{{Cite web |last=Barber |first=Rachel |title=Musk asks 'high-IQ revolutionaries' to work for Trump project without pay |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/11/15/elon-musk-vivek-ramaswamy-doge-trump/76289564007/ |access-date=2025-02-27 |website=USA Today |language=en-US}} During an interview with Tucker Carlson on the same day, Musk proposed consolidating the 400 federal agencies: "99 [...] is more than enough".{{Cite web| last = Kirkland| first = Joel| title = Elon Musk's guide to shrinking the government| work = Politico| access-date = 2025-03-01| date = 2025-02-28| url = https://www.politico.com/newsletters/power-switch/2024/11/13/elon-musks-guide-to-shrinking-the-government-00189275}}{{Cite web| title = 99 Federal agencies is more than enough| via = Twitter| format = Tweet| access-date = 2025-03-01| date = 2024-11-13| url = https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1856532960104583329}} On November 17, Ramaswamy stated that DOGE may eliminate entire agencies and reduce the federal workforce by 75%.{{Cite web |last=Nelken-Zitser |first=Joshua |title=DOGE wants to 'delete' entire federal agencies, Vivek Ramaswamy says |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/vivek-ramaswamy-doge-wants-to-delete-entire-federal-agencies-2024-11 |access-date=November 18, 2024 |website=Business Insider |archive-date=November 18, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241118124046/https://www.businessinsider.com/vivek-ramaswamy-doge-wants-to-delete-entire-federal-agencies-2024-11 |url-status=live| quote="On Sunday morning, Ramaswamy appeared on Fox News "Sunday Morning Futures" and was asked about DOGE's plans for the future of federal agencies [...] He said to expect "certain agencies to be deleted outright," reductions in head count for "bloated" areas of government, and "massive" cuts to federal contracting."}} Musk and Ramaswamy co-authored an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal three days later arguing for the need to reduce the size of government.{{Cite web| last = Ramaswamy| first = Elon Musk and Vivek| title = The DOGE Plan to Reform Government| work = The Wall Street Journal| access-date = 2025-04-22| date = 2024-11-20| url = https://www.wsj.com/opinion/musk-and-ramaswamy-the-doge-plan-to-reform-government-supreme-court-guidance-end-executive-power-grab-fa51c020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250306045857/https://www.wsj.com/opinion/musk-and-ramaswamy-the-doge-plan-to-reform-government-supreme-court-guidance-end-executive-power-grab-fa51c020 |archive-date=March 6, 2025}}

At a Trump campaign rally in Madison Square Garden in October, 2024, Musk said he thought DOGE could reduce federal spending by "at least" $2 trillion, a figure higher than the 2023 discretionary spending budget.{{Cite web |title=The Federal Budget in Fiscal Year 2023: An Infographic |url=https://www.cbo.gov/publication/59727 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241127223134/https://www.cbo.gov/publication/59727 |archive-date=November 27, 2024 |access-date=2024-11-28 |website=cbo.gov}}{{Cite web| first1=Ben |last1=Chu |title = Can Elon Musk cut $2 trillion from US government spending?| access-date = 2025-04-01| url = https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdj38mekdkgo |publisher=BBC|date=November 13, 2024 }} At the first cabinet meeting of the second Trump administration in February, Musk remained optimistic that $1 trillion–15% of the budget–could be cut.{{Cite web| last = Decker| first = Jon| title = Pres. Trump hosts first cabinet meeting| publisher = WSAZ| access-date = 2025-02-27| date = 2025-02-27| url = https://www.wsaz.com/2025/02/27/pres-trump-hosts-first-cabinet-meeting/}}{{Cite web|last=Picchi|first=Aimee|date=November 14, 2024 |title=What to know about Trump's Department of Government Efficiency, led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-department-of-government-efficiency-doge-elon-musk-ramaswamy/ |access-date=November 18, 2024 |publisher=CBS News|archive-date=November 17, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241117233859/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-department-of-government-efficiency-doge-elon-musk-ramaswamy/ |url-status=live}} In April, 2025, Musk stated that at that time $150 billion had been cut.{{Cite web| last = Garrison| first = Joey| title = Elon Musk lowers DOGE's projected savings from $1 trillion to $150 billion| work = USA Today| access-date = 2025-04-14| url = https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/04/11/elon-musk-doge-trump-projected-savings/83040591007/}}

On December 2, 2024, Ramaswamy posted that "Most government projects should come with a clear expiry date";{{Cite web| last = Vivek Ramaswamy [@VivekGRamaswamy]| title = Most government projects should come with a clear expiry date. That's why we set one for @DOGE: July 4, 2026.| via = Twitter| format = Tweet| access-date = 2025-03-11| date = 2024-12-02| url = https://x.com/VivekGRamaswamy/status/1863651909392810344}} Musk replied that the final step of DOGE was "to delete itself".{{Cite web| last = Elon Musk [@elonmusk]| title = The final step of @DOGE is to delete itself| via = Twitter| format = Tweet| access-date = 2025-03-11| date = 2024-12-02| url = https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1863666221301764462}} Trump stated that the entity's work will "conclude" no later than July 4, 2026.{{Cite web |last=Nazzaro |first=Miranda |date=November 13, 2024 |title=Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy to lead Trump's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) |url=https://thehill.com/policy/4987402-trump-musk-advisory-group-spending/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241201235131/https://thehill.com/policy/4987402-trump-musk-advisory-group-spending/ |archive-date=December 1, 2024 |access-date=November 13, 2024 |website=The Hill}} This termination will coincide with a "Great American Fair" that Trump has proposed on the 250th anniversary of the United States. Trump called the promised results "the perfect gift to America".{{cite web |last=Brodkin |first=Jon |date=13 November 2024 |title=Trump says Elon Musk will lead "DOGE," a new Department of Government Efficiency |url=https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/11/trump-says-elon-musk-will-lead-doge-a-new-department-of-government-efficiency/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241126214537/https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/11/trump-says-elon-musk-will-lead-doge-a-new-department-of-government-efficiency/ |archive-date=November 26, 2024 |access-date=25 November 2024 |publisher=Ars Technica}}

Trump's January 20 order on DOGE (E.O. 14158) created and divided DOGE into a permanent part and a temporary part.{{cite journal |date=29 January 2025 |title=Establishing and Implementing the President's "Department of Government Efficiency" |url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2025-01-29/pdf/2025-02005.pdf |url-status=live |journal=Federal Register |publisher=Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration |volume=90 |issue=14 |pages=8441–8442 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250129130442/https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2025-01-29/pdf/2025-02005.pdf |archive-date=January 29, 2025}} What exactly the temporary part consists of has yet to be determined.

After the second presidential inauguration of Trump on January 20, the White House confirmed that Ramaswamy would not join DOGE.{{Cite web |last1=Beaumont|first1=Thomas|last2=Cooper|first2=Jonathan J.|date=2025-01-20 |title=Ramaswamy won't serve on Trump's government efficiency commission as he mulls run for Ohio governor |url=https://apnews.com/article/vivek-ramaswamy-doge-ohio-governor-musk-trump-328400a5cc47adde8dd97eb628d18164 |access-date=2025-01-20 |website=AP News}} The announcement came after reports surfaced about internal friction between Ramaswamy and DOGE staff.{{Cite web |date=2025-01-19 |last1=Jacobs|first1=Jennifer|last2=Jiang|first2=Weijia|last3=Gómez|first3=Fin|title=Vivek Ramaswamy expected to depart DOGE |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/vivek-ramaswamy-expected-to-depart-doge/ |access-date=2025-01-20 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250119214459/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/vivek-ramaswamy-expected-to-depart-doge/ |archive-date=2025-01-19 |publisher=CBS News |quote=People close to Musk have privately undercut Ramaswamy for weeks, frustrated with his lack of participation in the heavy lifting, according to sources familiar with the internal dynamics. There has been friction between the incoming rank and file DOGE staff and Ramaswamy, the sources said, and Ramaswamy has been subtly encouraged to exit.}} A Republican strategist stated that Ramaswamy was wanted out of D.C. after his post on how Americans "venerated mediocrity over excellence".{{Cite web| title = 'Everyone wants him out': How Musk helped boot Ramaswamy from DOGE| work = Politico| access-date = 2025-03-18| date = 2025-01-20| url = https://www.politico.com/news/2025/01/20/doge-musk-helped-eject-ramaswamy-00199487}} Sources close to Ramaswamy said that he left DOGE to focus on his upcoming campaign for governor of Ohio.{{Cite web |last=Gomez |first=Henry J. |last2=Javers |first2=Eamon |date=2025-01-20 |title=Vivek Ramaswamy to leave DOGE and launch a run for Ohio governor |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/vivek-ramaswamy-doge-launch-run-ohio-governor-rcna188397 |access-date=2025-05-08 |website=NBC News |language=en}}

In his November 12, 2024, announcement, Trump stated that DOGE will work with the Office of Management and Budget to address what he called "massive waste and fraud" in government spending. Less than a week into his presidency, Trump fired 17 inspectors general, whose job was to audit federal agencies.{{Cite web| last1=Miller| first1=Zeke| last2=Tucker| first2=Eric| last3=Weissert| first3=Will| title = Trump uses mass firing to remove independent inspectors general at a series of agencies| agency = Associated Press| access-date = 6 March 2025| date = 26 January 2025| url = https://apnews.com/article/trump-inspectors-general-fired-congress-unlawful-4e8bc57e132c3f9a7f1c2a3754359993}} Some of these inspectors were leading investigations, pending legal action against Elon Musk’s companies.{{Cite news |last=Lipton |first=Eric |last2=Grind |first2=Kirsten |date=2025-02-11 |title=Elon Musk's Business Empire Scores Benefits Under Trump Shake-Up |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/11/us/politics/elon-musk-companies-conflicts.html/ |access-date=2025-05-02 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/11/us/politics/elon-musk-companies-conflicts.html |archive-date=February 14, 2025}}

File:President Trump Signs Executive Orders in the Oval Office, Feb. 11, 2025 (1080p 60fps H264-128kbit AAC).webm, February 2025.]]

Trump said DOGE discovered "billions and billions of dollars in waste, fraud and abuse".{{Cite news| last = Moore| first = Elena| title = Trump and Musk appear together in the Oval Office to defend the work of DOGE| publisher = NPR| access-date = 2025-03-05| date = 2025-02-11| url = https://www.npr.org/2025/02/11/nx-s1-5293504/trump-musk-doge-oval-office}} Musk suggested that 20 million people received Social Security past age 100, which he later called "the biggest fraud in history"; that claim rests on a misunderstanding of the database.{{cite news| last1=Hutzler| first1=Alexandra| title=Musk misreads Social Security data, millions of dead people not getting benefits, experts say| url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/musk-misreads-social-security-data-millions-dead-people/story?id=118960821| work=ABC News| date=19 February 2025| access-date=6 March 2025}}{{Cite web| author = Susan Blake| title = Are people over 100 receiving Social Security benefits? What we know| work = Newsweek| access-date = 2025-03-05| date = 2025-02-18| url = https://www.newsweek.com/social-security-over-100-payments-elon-musk-claims-2032774}}{{Cite web| title = Tens of millions of dead people aren't getting Social Security checks, despite Trump and Musk claims| work = AP News| access-date = 2025-05-04| date = 2025-02-19| url = https://apnews.com/article/social-security-payments-deceased-false-claims-doge-ed2885f5769f368853ac3615b4852cf7}} Karoline Leavitt asserted the day after that the DOGE Subcommittee discovered $2.7 trillion in improper Medicaid and Medicare payments to people overseas. Musk shared the claim on his social. Since then the claim has been refuted.{{Cite web| last = Ahmed| first = Sofia| title = DOGE didn't uncover $2.7 trillion improper federal payments| work = Politifact| access-date = 2025-02-28| url = https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2025/feb/18/social-media/doge-didnt-discover-27-trillion-in-improper-federa/}} Two judges had rebuked the Trump administration a few days later for alleging fraud without evidence.{{cite news |last1=Haberman |first1=Maggie |last2=Schleifer |first2=Theodore |last3=Kanno-Youngs |first3=Zolan |date=February 11, 2025 |title=At Oval Office, Musk Makes Broad Claims of Federal Fraud Without Proof |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/11/us/politics/trump-musk-oval-office.html |work=The New York Times}}{{cite news |last1=Blake |first1=Aaron |date=February 13, 2025 |title=Trump and Musk can't seem to locate much evidence of fraud |url=https://wapo.st/412vLgh |newspaper=The Washington Post}}

In his Joint Address to Congress on March 4, 2025, Trump repeated Musk's claim about people of implausible ages receiving social security benefits.{{cite news| last1=Hoffman| first1=Riley| title=Fact-checking Trump's speech to Congress| url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/fact-checking-trumps-speech-congress/story?id=119447124| work=ABC News| date=5 March 2025| access-date=6 March 2025}} In March 2025, Musk suggested that those who criticize DOGE are fraudsters.{{Cite web| title = Elon Musk brands those who complain about DOGE 'fraudsters'| work = The Independent| access-date = 2025-03-28| date = 2025-03-27| url = https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/elon-musk-doge-cuts-fox-news-b2723026.html |quote="One of the things I learned PayPal was that [...] you know who complains the loudest and the most amount of fake righteous indignation? The fraudsters"}}{{Cite web| title = Elon Musk's DOGE tries to put new faces on its reclusive federal office| publisher = NBC News| access-date = 2025-04-03| date = 2025-03-28| url = https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/doge/elon-musks-doge-tries-put-new-faces-reclusive-federal-office-rcna198491}}

On January 20, 2025, Trump established by executive order the "Department of Government Efficiency".{{Cite journal |date=January 29, 2025 |title=Establishing and Implementing the President's "Department of Government Efficiency" |url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2025-01-29/pdf/2025-02005.pdf |journal=Federal Register |volume=90 |issue=18 |page=8441 |via=GovInfo}} In Section 3, he introduced the DOGE structure, by which he: (a) reorganizes the U.S. Digital Service (USDS) as the U.S. DOGE Service; (b) establishes a temporary entity within USDS, the U.S. DOGE Service Temporary Organization, intended to advance the president's 18-month DOGE agenda and to terminate on July 4, 2026 (E.O. 14158 Sect. 3b); and (c) creates DOGE teams, which coordinate with other agencies.{{Cite news |last=Hernandez |first=Joe |date=2025-02-04 |title=DOGE is making major changes to the federal government. Is it legal? |url=https://www.npr.org/2025/02/04/nx-s1-5286314/department-of-government-efficiency-doge-explainer-elon-musk |access-date=2025-03-22 |publisher=NPR |language=en| quote="Trump didn't create a new Cabinet-level department with DOGE, but rather renamed the previously existing United States Digital Service, which was created under former President Barack Obama."}}{{Cite web |last1=Bond |first1=Shannon |last2=Fowler |first2=Stephen |last3=Allyn |first3=Bobby |date=February 7, 2025 |title=Who is part of Elon Musk's DOGE, and what are they doing? |url=https://www.npr.org/2025/02/07/nx-s1-5288988/doge-elon-musk-staff-trump |access-date=April 2, 2025 |publisher=NPR}} The new USDS is declared to have "full and prompt access to all unclassified agency records, software systems and IT systems" to the "maximum extent consistent with law".

The first executive order (E.O. 14158) introduced the concept of a "DOGE team", and called for the implementation of an unspecified DOGE agenda.{{efn|group=lower-alpha|The expression "DOGE agenda" is used three times in the text of the first executive order (E.O. 14158). The first (Sect. 1) is to state that DOGE is established to "implement the President's DOGE Agenda"; the second (Sect. 3b) to state that the USDSTO "shall be dedicated to advancing the President's 18-month DOGE agenda"; the third (Sect. 3c) to state that DOGE Team leads "coordinate their work with USDS and advise their respective Agency Heads on implementing the President's DOGE Agenda." Executive order 14222 does not mention the DOGE agenda, but rather refers to a "cost efficiency initiative".}} "DOGE Teams" will be embedded within all federal agencies, consisting of at least four employees, some of whom may be special government employees, typically including a team lead, one engineer, one human resources specialist, and one attorney. The members of each team will be determined by the agency head in consultation with the USDS administrator (E.O. 14158 Sect. 3c).{{Cite web| title = Trump creates DOGE with an executive order. It says the unit's purpose is upgrading IT. - CBS News| access-date = 2025-05-08| date = 2025-01-21| url = https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-doge-executive-order-elon-musk-us-digital-service-it/}}

New career appointments at each federal agency are to be made in consultation with the agency's DOGE team lead, who also plays a role in determining whether career appointment vacancies will be filled. The team lead provides the USDS administrator with a monthly hiring report (E.O. 14210, 3b).

Executive order 14222 Sect. 3a tasks DOGE teams with assisting agencies in the elaboration of "a centralized technological system" to record every payment issued by the agency, along with justification by the employee who approved it; this system shall also give agency heads a kill switch to override decisions.{{Cite news| issn = 0190-8286| last1 = Natanson| first1 = Hannah| last2 = Menn| first2 = Joseph| last3 = Rein| first3 = Lisa| last4 = Siegel| first4 = Rachel| title = DOGE aims to pool federal data, putting personal information at risk| work = The Washington Post| access-date = 2025-05-08| date = 2025-05-07| url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/05/07/doge-government-data-immigration-social-security/}}

The USDS administrator, a position currently held on an acting basis by Amy Gleason, reports to the White House Chief of Staff.{{Cite news |last=Hernandez |first=Joe |date=2025-02-26 |title=Amy Gleason is the acting administrator of DOGE, the White House says. Who is she? |url=https://www.npr.org/2025/02/26/nx-s1-5310634/amy-gleason-doge-administrator |access-date=2025-03-07 |publisher=NPR |quote="The executive order creating DOGE notes that the office is to be run by an administrator who reports directly to the White House chief of staff."}} The administrator also heads the DOGE temporary organization. The administrator's work includes heading a government-wide software modernization initiative. The listed responsibilities include working with agency heads both to promote the interoperability of agency systems, and to enable USDS access to unclassified agency records and systems. The administrator is also tasked (with others) with developing a federal hiring plan for agency heads, providing advice regarding its implementation. Within 240 days of February 11, 2025, the administrator is to provide the president with a report about the implementation of his workforce optimization initiative, including "a recommendation as to whether any of its provisions should be extended, modified, or terminated."

{{See also|List of executive orders in the second presidency of Donald Trump}}

Trump has issued several executive orders mentioning DOGE, either to constitute it, to establish its mandate or to ask agencies to cooperate with it:

• On January 20, executive order 14158, "Establishing and Implementing the President's 'Department of Government Efficiency'", established various DOGE entities.
• On January 20, executive order 14170, "Reforming the Federal Hiring Process and Restoring Merit to Government Service", asks his assistant for domestic policy to produce a hiring plan in consultation with the OMB director, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) director, and the DOGE administrator.{{Cite web |date=2025-01-30 |title=Reforming the Federal Hiring Process and Restoring Merit to Government Service |url=https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/01/30/2025-02094/reforming-the-federal-hiring-process-and-restoring-merit-to-government-service |access-date=2025-03-16 |website=Federal Register |language=en}}
• On February 11, executive order 14210, "Implementing The President's 'Department of Government Efficiency' Workforce Optimization Initiative", ordered significant reductions in workforce.{{Cite web |date=2025-02-14 |title=Implementing the President's "Department of Government Efficiency" Workforce Optimization Initiative |url=https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/02/14/2025-02762/implementing-the-presidents-department-of-government-efficiency-workforce-optimization-initiative |access-date=2025-03-06 |website=Federal Register |language=en}}
• On February 19, executive order 14218, "Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Open Borders", ordered the OMB and the USDS directors to identify funding sources and to enhance eligibility verification systems for undocumented immigrants.{{Cite web| title = Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Open Borders| work = Federal Register| access-date = 2025-04-14| date = 2025-02-25| url = https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/02/25/2025-03137/ending-taxpayer-subsidization-of-open-borders}}
• On February 19, executive order 14219, "Ensuring Lawful Governance and Implementing the President's 'Department of Government Efficiency' Regulatory Initiative", ordered the review of a wide-ranging set of laws with an eye toward rescinding many of them.{{Cite web |date=2025-02-25 |title=Ensuring Lawful Governance and Implementing the President's "Department of Government Efficiency" Deregulatory Initiative |url=https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/02/25/2025-03138/ensuring-lawful-governance-and-implementing-the-presidents-department-of-government-efficiency |access-date=2025-03-06 |website=Federal Register |language=en}}
• On February 26, executive order 14222, "Implementing the President's 'Department of Government Efficiency' Cost Efficiency Initiative", issued directives to transform the registration of contracts, grants, and loans.{{Cite web| title = Implementing the President's "Department of Government Efficiency" Cost Efficiency Initiative Executive Order 14222| work = Federal Register| access-date = 2025-02-28| date = 2025-02-26| url = https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/03/03/2025-03527/implementing-the-presidents-department-of-government-efficiency-cost-efficiency-initiative}}
• On April 9, executive order 14270, "Zero-Based Regulatory Budgeting To Unleash American Energy", directs environment and energy agencies to coordinate with DOGE team leads and the OMB director to incorporate a sunset provision into their regulations.{{Cite web| title = Zero-Based Regulatory Budgeting To Unleash American Energy| work = Federal Register| access-date = 2025-04-23| date = 2025-04-15| url = https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/04/15/2025-06466/zero-based-regulatory-budgeting-to-unleash-american-energy}}

{{Excerpt|Network of the Department of Government Efficiency}}

By February 20, 2025, DOGE's budget was nearly $40 million. DOGE's funding has come from other federal agencies in the form of transfer payments allowed by the Economy Act. This form of payment implies that DOGE has been treated like a federal agency by the Trump administration.{{Cite web| last1 = Bing| first1 = Christopher| last2 = Asher-Schapiro| first2 = Avi| first3 = Andy |last3 = Kroll| title = DOGE's Millions: As Musk and Trump Gut Government, Their Ax-Cutting Agency Gets Cash Infusion| work = ProPublica| access-date = 2025-02-24| date = 2025-02-20| url = https://www.propublica.org/article/doge-trump-musk-funding-foia-congress-transparency}} John Lewis and Daniel Jacobson underline the dilemma: "The Trump administration's view is untenable. USDS is either an agency or it is not. And if USDS, as seems apparent, is doing more than advising the President and is instead wielding independent authority, then it faces a more fundamental challenge to its existence: no statute created USDS or vested it with the power it now appears to wield".{{Cite web| title = DOGE and the Three Bears, by John Lewis & Daniel Jacobson| work = Yale Journal on Regulation| access-date = 2025-02-24| url = https://www.yalejreg.com/nc/doge-and-the-three-bears-by-john-lewis-daniel-jacobson/}}

DOGE has asked the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to pay for 20 full-time DOGE employees at the highest federal pay grade to modernize its information systems; the terms stipulate that OPM must pay each month in advance, and give DOGE access to its data and systems, as well as provide "operational and technical support". At the current employment rates, this would mean $4.1 million for the work between January 20 and July 4, 2026.{{Cite news |author=Rene Marsh |author2=Eric Bradner |date=2025-03-03 |title=DOGE wants to charge one federal agency millions of dollars for its work to make government more efficient |url=https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/03/politics/doge-wants-to-charge-opm-millions/index.html |access-date=2025-03-04 |publisher=CNN |language=en}}{{update inline|date=May 2025}}

At least three DOGE employees are drawing salaries from the General Services Administration (GSA): Jeremy Lewin ($167,000), Kyle Schutt ($195,200), and Nate Cavanaugh ($120,500). According to DOGE's website, the average GSA employee has been at the agency for 13 years and makes $128,565.{{Cite magazine| issn = 1059-1028| last = Knibbs| first = Kate| title = Some DOGE Staffers Are Drawing Six-Figure Government Salaries| magazine = Wired| access-date = 2025-03-14| url = https://www.wired.com/story/doge-government-salaries-elon-musk/}}

An agreement between the Department of Labor (DOL) and USDS, backdated to the inauguration day, would reportedly pay $1.3 million for the work equivalent of four DOGE members, so about 10% more per employee than the top annual career civil servant salary.{{Cite magazine| issn = 1059-1028| last = Feiger| first = Leah| title = US DOGE Service Agreement With Department of Labor Shows $1.3 Million Fee—and Details Its Mission| magazine = Wired| access-date = 2025-04-10| url = https://www.wired.com/story/department-of-labor-doge-usds-payment/}}

At the time of its announcement, DOGE's budget was unknown, and several of the employees were expected to be unpaid volunteers.{{Cite news |last1=Madeline |first1=Ngo |last2=Schleifer |first2=Theodore |date=January 21, 2025 |title=How Trump's Department of Government Efficiency Will Work |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/21/us/politics/doge-government-efficiency-trump-musk.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=January 21, 2025 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}

To cover for DOGE costs during its first week, $6.75{{nbsp}}million was apportioned to DOGE from the Information Technology Oversight and Reform (ITOR) account that funded the legacy United States Digital Service (USDS).{{Cite web| author1 = Clinton T. Brass | author2 = Dominick A. Fiorentino |title = Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Executive Order: Early Implementation| format = legislation| access-date = 2025-03-13| url = https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IN12493}} Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) observed that this was "nearly twice the annual salaries and expenses budget of the White House". DOGE also has a Treasury account, separate from ITOR.{{cite web |url=https://rollcall.com/2025/02/04/white-house-opens-funding-spigot-for-doge-expenses/ |title=White House opens funding spigot for DOGE expenses | website= Roll Call |date=2025-02-04 |first=Peter |last=Cohn |access-date= 2025-02-07}} From January 30 to February 8, DOGE's budget had more than doubled to $14.4 million; filings show that the added $7.7 million was reserved "for anticipated reimbursements from agencies in support of Software Modernization Initiative".{{Cite web| last = Rogelberg| first = Sasha| title = DOGE—tasked with trimming federal spending—has more than doubled its budget already, disclosures show| work = Fortune| access-date = 2025-03-13| url = https://fortune.com/2025/02/12/elon-musk-doge-doubles-budget-government-spending-cuts/}}

{{see also|Twitter under Elon Musk#Layoffs and mass resignations}}

File:Elon Musk (54349592271).jpg.]]

Proponents of DOGE have described it as a project to make the government smaller and more efficient, by cutting government spending and downsizing the federal workforce.{{Cite web |last=Hennessey |first=Matthew |title=Opinion {{!}} Democrats Ought to Love DOGE |url=https://www.wsj.com/opinion/democrats-ought-to-love-doge-big-government-cleanup-efficiency-policy-5a87dd80 |access-date=2025-04-26 |website=The Wall Street Journal |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |first1=Paul |last1=Overberg |first2=Nate |last2=Rattner |first3=Scott |last3=Patterson |title=DOGE Is Searching for Wasteful Spending. It Isn't Hard to Find. |url=https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/doge-musk-government-waste-spending-charts-109f3bcf |access-date=2025-04-26 |website=The Wall Street Journal |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Tucker |first=Jeffrey A. |title=Opinion {{!}} America's Future Depends on DOGE |url=https://www.wsj.com/opinion/americas-future-depends-on-doge-efficiency-overhaul-system-b2875bcd |access-date=2025-04-26 |website=The Wall Street Journal |language=en-US}} Critics have described DOGE as a project to make the federal government conform to the Trump administration's political ideology.{{Cite web |last=Kilgore |first=Ed |date=2025-02-15 |title=DOGE Is About Ideology and Mindless Budget Cutting, Not Efficiency |url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/doge-is-about-ideology-and-budget-cutting-not-efficiency.html |access-date=2025-04-26 |website=Intelligencer |language=en |quote=[DOGE]'s "savings" mostly fall into two baskets that have nothing to do with efficiency or rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse. One is via ideology-driven demolitions of activities and whole programs that Trump simply doesn't like. [...] A second DOGE strategy represents mindless terminations of federal employees who are easy to fire, not those who are doing a particularly poor job. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250426123416/https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/doge-is-about-ideology-and-budget-cutting-not-efficiency.html |archive-date= April 26, 2025}} DOGE has outlined a plan to purge federal agencies of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), aligning with Trump's order to put DEI workers on leave and terminate DEI offices.{{Cite web |date=2025-01-23 |title=Trump puts all US government DEI staff on paid leave 'immediately' |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgj288ywj23o |access-date=2025-03-23 |publisher=BBC |language=en-GB}}{{Cite web |date=2025-01-21 |title=Ending Radical And Wasteful Government DEI Programs And Preferencing |url=https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/ending-radical-and-wasteful-government-dei-programs-and-preferencing/ |access-date=2025-03-23 |website=The White House |language=en-US}} The plan calls for large-scale firing, including removal of any employee deemed DEI-adjacent.{{Cite news |date=2025-02-15 |title=See inside DOGE's playbook for eliminating DEI |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2025/doge-playbook-dei-trump/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250215143830/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2025/doge-playbook-dei-trump/ |archive-date=February 15, 2025 |access-date=2025-02-15 |newspaper=The Washington Post |quote="Phase 1 focuses on rescissions of Biden administration executive orders related to DEI and the shutting down targeted agencies. Phase 2 consists of placing on-leave employees in non-DEI roles — who DOGE determines were tied to DEI — as well as other employees working at offices whose existence was mandated by law. Phase 3 is slated to include large-scale firings, the documents show. "}} While executing its plan, DOGE has gained pervasive access to government data.{{Cite web| last1 = Warzel| first1 = Charlie| last2 = Bogost| first2 = Ian| last3 = Wong| first3 = Matteo| title = DOGE Has 'God Mode' Access to Government Data| work = The Atlantic| access-date = 2025-03-10| date = 2025-02-19| url = https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2025/02/doge-god-mode-access/681719/}} Its takeover of federal infrastructure is such that it holds information about American citizens, public properties, scientific datasets, official websites, financial records, classified material, and federal contracts; it gained the capacity to terminate programs, destroy data, and contact every federal employee, including judges.{{Cite magazine| issn = 1059-1028| last = Elliott| first = Vittoria| title = DOGE Will Allow Elon Musk to Surveil the US Government From the Inside| magazine = Wired| access-date = 2025-02-26| url = https://www.wired.com/story/doge-elon-musk/}} It has used AI in at least one federal agency to monitor employee communications for anti-Trump and anti-Musk sentiment.{{Cite news|date=April 8, 2025|last1=Ulmer|first1=Alexandra |last2=Taylor|first2=Marisa|last3=Dastin|first3=Jeffrey|last4=Alper|first4=Alexandra|title=Exclusive: Musk's DOGE using AI to snoop on U.S. federal workers, sources say | work=Reuters| access-date = 2025-04-08|url=https://www.reuters.com/technology/artificial-intelligence/musks-doge-using-ai-snoop-us-federal-workers-sources-say-2025-04-08/}} DOGE has broadcast its actions through their website and their accounts on Musk's social; this online presence is complemented by Musk's media appearances, especially on Fox News where he presents talking points about their next targets.{{Cite magazine| title = Elon Musk Eyes Social Security and Benefit Programs for Cuts| magazine = Time| access-date = 2025-03-12| date = 2025-03-11| url = https://time.com/7266743/elon-musk-social-security-federal-benefits-cuts-fraud-doge-trump/| quote="Elon Musk pushed debunked theories about Social Security on Monday while describing federal benefit programs as rife with fraud, suggesting they will be a primary target in his crusade to reduce government spending. The billionaire entrepreneur, who is advising President Donald Trump, suggested that $500 billion to $700 billion in waste needed to be cut. "Most of the federal spending is entitlements," Musk told the Fox Business Network. "That's the big one to eliminate.""}} DOGE's agenda maps onto Project 2025 goals.{{Cite news |last=Montlake |first=Simon |date=February 21, 2025 |title=In Musk, an unprecedented blend of political and financial power |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2025/0221/elon-musk-doge-public-private-conflict |access-date=2025-02-21 |work=The Christian Science Monitor |issn=0882-7729 |quote=Much of DOGE's agenda maps onto Project 2025, a plan of action drawn up by conservative groups allied with Mr. Trump to shrink the federal bureaucracy and greatly enhance presidential authority.}}

DOGE has attempted to control, at times successfully, US government digital systems.{{Cite web| title = How Elon Musk Executed His Takeover of the Federal Bureaucracy| work = The New York Times| access-date = 2025-03-11| date = 2025-03-05| url = https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/28/us/politics/musk-federal-bureaucracy-takeover.html| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20250305021700/https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/28/us/politics/musk-federal-bureaucracy-takeover.html| archive-date = March 5, 2025| last1 = Swan| first1 = Jonathan| last2 = Schleifer| first2 = Theodore| last3 = Haberman| first3 = Maggie| last4 = Mac| first4 = Ryan| last5 = Conger| first5 = Kate| last6 = Nehamas| first6 = Nicholas| last7 = Ngo| first7 = Madeleine}} Three weeks into the second Trump presidency, TechCrunch observed that DOGE had "gained unprecedented access to a swath of U.S. government departments—including agencies responsible for managing data on millions of federal employees and a system that handles $6 trillion in payments to Americans.{{Cite web| last = Whittaker| first = Zack| title = The biggest breach of US government data is under way| work = TechCrunch| access-date = 2025-03-10| date = 2025-02-07| url = https://techcrunch.com/2025/02/07/doge-biggest-breach-of-united-states-government-data-under-way/}}

The following CIOs are either connected to Musk or Peter Thiel: the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has Gregory Barbaccia, from Palantir; OPM has Greg Hogan, from SpaceX; DOE has Ryan Riedel, from SpaceX;{{Cite magazine| title = Former Palantir and Elon Musk Associates Are Taking Over Key Government IT Roles| magazine = Wired| access-date = 2025-03-18| url = https://www.wired.com/story/elon-musk-palantir-chief-information-officers-government/| last1 = Kelly| first1 = Makena}} the Social Security Administration (SSA) has Michael Russo, a DOGE member with Musk ties.{{Cite web| last = Miller| first = Jason| title = Debate about political CIOs takes on new life with OPM memo| access-date = 2025-03-15| date = 2025-02-10| url = https://federalnewsnetwork.com/cio-news/2025/02/debate-about-political-cios-takes-on-new-life-with-opm-memo/ |website=federalnewsnetwork.com}} Before that memo, Thomas Shedd, from Tesla, became the head of GSA's Technology Transformation Services{{cite web | url=https://www.gsa.gov/about-us/newsroom/news-releases/gsa-announces-new-commissioners-tts-director-and-general-counsel-01242025 | title=GSA announces new Commissioners, TTS Director, and General Counsel | website= U.S. General Services Administration | date=2025-01-24 |access-date= 2025-02-08}} after Steven Reilly resigned over Shedd's requests for administrative access to more than 20 government systems.{{Cite news| title = GSA engineering lead resigns over DOGE ally's request for access |newspaper = The Washington Post |url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/02/18/gsa-staffer-resigns-doge/ |access-date = 2025-03-14| date = 2025-02-21| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20250221190927/https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/02/18/gsa-staffer-resigns-doge/ |archive-date = February 21, 2025}} This comes after acting OPM director Charles Ezell sent on February 4 a memo to agencies recommending that the role of chief information officer (CIO) be designated as "general" rather than "career reserved", which allows political appointees, including some DOGE members, to control any decision related to information policy.{{Cite web |date=February 6, 2025 |title='What's going to break?' DOGE staffers 'scorching the earth' as they reshape federal government |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/whats-break-doge-staffers-scorching-earth-reshape-federal/story?id=118536035 |access-date=2025-03-18 |work=ABC News}}{{Cite web |date=2025-02-05 |title=Trump administration moves to make tech officials political appointees amid DOGE clashes |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/trump-admin-moves-make-tech-officials-appointees-doge-clashes-rcna190718 |access-date=2025-03-24 |publisher=NBC News |language=en |quote=The change, which OPM announced in a memo Tuesday, will make the roles "general," opening them up to a wide variety of appointees.}} Scott Kupor, a DOGE ally, has been nominated to replace Ezell.{{Cite web| title = PN12-24 - Nomination of Scott Kupor for Office of Personnel Management, 119th Congress (2025-2026)| format = legislation| access-date = 2025-05-06| date = 2025-09-04| url = https://www.congress.gov/nomination/119th-congress/12/24}}{{cite magazine |last1=Elliott |first1=Vittoria |title=Elon Musk Lackeys Have Taken Over the Office of Personnel Management |url=https://www.wired.com/story/elon-musk-lackeys-office-personnel-management-opm-neuralink-x-boring-stalin/ |access-date=February 1, 2025 |magazine=Wired |date=January 28, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250130015913/https://www.wired.com/story/elon-musk-lackeys-office-personnel-management-opm-neuralink-x-boring-stalin/ |archive-date=January 30, 2025 |quote="Scott Kupor, a managing partner at the powerful investment firm Andreessen Horowitz, stands as Trump's nominee to run the OPM. But already in place, according to sources, are a variety of people who seem ready to carry out Musk's mission of cutting staff and disrupting the government"}}

By Trump's first day in office, DOGE member Amanda Scales was chief of staff at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).{{cite news |last1=Reid |first1=Tim |date=January 31, 2025 |title=Exclusive: Musk aides lock government workers out of computer systems at US agency, sources say |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/musk-aides-lock-government-workers-out-computer-systems-us-agency-sources-say-2025-01-31/ |publisher=Reuters |quote="Among the group that now runs OPM is Amanda Scales, a former Musk employee, who is now OPM's chief of staff. In some memos sent out on Jan. 20 and Jan. 21 by Ezell, including one directing agencies to identify federal workers on probationary periods, agency heads were asked to email Scales at her OPM email address"}} OPM manages more than $1 trillion in assets, retirement funds, health and life insurance benefits for federal employees and their spouses; it also provides custody to service records of 2.1 million workers and citizens who have applied for federal jobs, and maintains an email list of nearly every federal employee.{{Cite magazine |last=Bennett |first=Brian |date=2025-02-07 |title=As Musk Targets Federal Data, Obscure Agency Plays Key Role |url=https://time.com/7213990/elon-musk-doge-opm/ |access-date=2025-03-15 |magazine=Time}} DOGE revoked database access to senior OPM staff on January 30, 2025.{{Cite news |last=Reid |first=Tim |date=2025-02-02 |title=Musk aides lock workers out of OPM computer systems |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/musk-aides-lock-government-workers-out-computer-systems-us-agency-sources-say-2025-01-31/ |access-date=2025-03-19 |work=Reuters}}{{Cite web |last=Townsend |first=Chance |date=2025-02-02 |title=Elon Musk seizes computer system, locks out senior government officials |url=https://mashable.com/article/elon-musk-opm-seize-computers |access-date=2025-03-19 |work=Mashable}}

Musk lieutenant Steve Davis and other DOGE team members have been occupying a level of the GSA headquarters since February 2;{{cite magazine |last1=Kelly |first1=Makena |first2=Zoë |last2=Schiffer |title=Elon Musk's Friends Have Infiltrated Another Government Agency |url=https://www.wired.com/story/elon-musk-lackeys-general-services-administration/ |access-date=February 1, 2025 |magazine=Wired |date=January 31, 2025 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250201053133/https://www.wired.com/story/elon-musk-lackeys-general-services-administration/ |archive-date=February 1, 2025}}{{Cite web |date=2025-03-06 |title=IKEA beds? Dressers? Inside the 'exceedingly odd' DOGE office setup |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/06/doge-federal-office-bedrooms-00216863 |access-date=2025-03-07 |website=Politico |language=en}} the agency has been described as "a choke point for all agencies" by Steven Schooner, a George Washington University law school professor who specializes in government contracting.{{Cite web| title = Why Elon Musk installed his top lieutenants at a federal agency you probably haven't heard of| work = The Independent| access-date = 2025-05-06| date = 2025-04-17| url = https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/general-services-administration-elon-musk-trump-washington-tesla-b2734791.html}} The agency holds data about federal real estate, procurement, and information infrastructure; according to a former director, it holds "incredible amounts of sensitive or proprietary business information that [businesses] had to share with the government in order to get a contract or take some action". It manages the SmartPay system, the largest government charge card and commercial payment program in the world.{{Cite magazine| issn = 1059-1028| last = Schiffer| first = Zoë| title = DOGE Puts $1 Spending Limit on Government Employee Credit Cards| magazine = Wired| access-date = 2025-03-16| url = https://www.wired.com/story/doge-government-credit-cards/}} It also oversees the Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS), which details every contract action over $3,000; DOGE has had the power to modify its records since before February 14, the day they promised "receipts".

On January 21, David Lebryk denied DOGE access to USDT systems. Newly confirmed Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, overruled that decision later that day, and Lebryk resigned.{{Cite news |last1=Stein |first1=Jeff |last2=Arnsdorf |first2=Isaac |last3=Alemany |first3=Jacqueline |date=January 31, 2025 |title=Senior U.S. official exits after rift with Musk allies over payment system |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/01/31/elon-musk-treasury-department-payment-systems/ |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250209151438/https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/01/31/elon-musk-treasury-department-payment-systems/ |archive-date=2025-02-09 |access-date=February 2, 2025 |newspaper=The Washington Post |issn=0190-8286 |quote="Musk has sought to exert sweeping control over the inner workings of the U.S. government, installing longtime surrogates at several agencies, including the OPM, and the General Services Administration (GSA), which manages real estate."}}{{cite news |last1=Polantz |first1=Katelyn |last2=Mattingly |first2=Phil |last3=Sneed |first3=Tierney |date=January 31, 2025 |title=How an arcane Treasury Department office became ground zero in the war over federal spending |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2025/01/31/politics/doge-treasury-department-federal-spending |publisher=CNN}} He was replaced by Tom Krause, a DOGE member{{Cite magazine| issn = 0028-6583| title = Elon Musk to Install DOGE Crony Amid Treasury Department Takeover| magazine = The New Republic| access-date = 2025-03-14| url = https://newrepublic.com/post/191307/elon-musk-doge-treasury-department-payments-takeover}} who kept his role of CEO at the Cloud Software Group.{{Cite magazine| issn = 1059-1028| last = Elliott| first = Vittoria| title = Elon Musk's Man in the Treasury Is Still Holding Down His Day Job as Software CEO| magazine = Wired| access-date = 2025-03-16| url = https://www.wired.com/story/musk-krause-treasury-bfs-conflict-of-interest/}}

On February 13, DOGE entered the Internal Revenue Service (IRS),{{Cite news| last = Layne| first = Nathan| title = Exclusive: Top Elon Musk aide arrives at IRS to scrutinize operations, sources say| work = Reuters| access-date = 2025-03-16| date = 2025-02-13| url = https://www.reuters.com/world/us/top-musk-staffer-goes-irs-examine-operations-sources-say-2025-02-13/}} whose parent agency is the Department of Treasury. Two days later, DOGE was seeking access to the Integrated Data Retrieval System.{{Cite web| title = Here's What To Know About DOGE As It Is Blocked From Accessing Personal Taxpayer Data| website = Forbes| access-date = 2025-03-16| date = 2025-02-21| url = https://www.forbes.com/sites/mollybohannon/2025/02/20/white-house-and-treasury-department-agree-to-block-doge-from-personal-taxpayer-data-report-says-heres-what-to-know/| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20250221014429/https://www.forbes.com/sites/mollybohannon/2025/02/20/white-house-and-treasury-department-agree-to-block-doge-from-personal-taxpayer-data-report-says-heres-what-to-know/| archive-date = February 21, 2025}} USDT (through IRS) has names, addresses, social security numbers from tax payers, their income and net worth, bank information for direct deposits, itemization details such as charitable donations, bankruptcy history or identity theft.

On February 18, Michelle King either stepped down from her role at the SSA{{Cite web| agency = Associated Press| title = Social Security head steps down over DOGE access of recipient information, sources say | publisher = CNN| access-date = 2025-03-14| date = 2025-02-18| url = https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/17/politics/social-security-head-steps-down-doge-access/index.html}} or was fired.{{Cite magazine| last = Popli| first = Nik| title = Everyone Who's Resigned From the Trump Administration| magazine = Time| access-date = 2025-03-14| date = 2025-02-20| url = https://time.com/7259962/trump-administration-officials-resign/ |quote="Trump told reporters at a press conference on Feb. 18 that King did not resign but was rather fired"}} Leland Dudek then replaced her.{{Cite web |last=Hager |first=Eli |date=2025-03-12 |title="The President Wanted It and I Did It": Recording Reveals Head of Social Security's Thoughts on DOGE and Trump |url=https://www.propublica.org/article/recording-reveals-leland-dudek-thoughts-trump-doge-social-security |access-date=2025-03-12 |work=ProPublica |quote="[T]he full recording reveals that [Leland Dudek] went much further, citing not only the actions being taken at the agency by the people he repeatedly called "the DOGE kids ""}} Dudek has been approving DOGE's decisions regarding the SSA since a LinkedIn post in which he bragged about having "bullied agency executives" to facilitate DOGE's work.{{Cite web| last = Luhby| first = Tami| title = How a mid-level staffer rose to oversee the Social Security Administration within days| publisher = CNN| access-date = 2025-03-07| date = 2025-02-22| url = https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/22/politics/leland-dudek-acting-social-security-head-doge/index.html}} Chief of staff Tiffany Flick has also retired, after having "witnessed a disregard for critical processes", and accusing DOGE member Michael Russo of supporting Musk's incorrect claims about dead people receiving benefits.{{Cite web| last = Irwin| first = Lauren| title = Ex-Social Security official describes 'significant' risk of sensitive data going to wrong hands under DOGE| work = The Hill| format = Text| access-date = 2025-03-16| date = 2025-03-10| url = https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5186301-social-security-official-data-concerns/}}{{Cite web| title = Meet the cost-cutting engineer who runs the day-to-day operations of DOGE| work = The Independent| access-date = 2025-03-27| date = 2025-03-20| url = https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/doge-steve-davis-elon-musk-b2718981.html}} SSA's systems contain: records of lifetime wages and earnings, social security and bank account numbers, the type and amount of benefits individuals received, citizenship status, disability and medical information.{{Cite news| last = Wamsley| first = Laurel| title = The government already knows a lot about you. DOGE is trying to access all of it| publisher = NPR| access-date = 2025-03-16| date = 2025-03-11| url = https://www.npr.org/2025/03/11/nx-s1-5305054/doge-elon-musk-security-data-information-privacy}}{{Cite web| title = Elon Musk's DOGE Seeks Access to Americans' Data, Alarming Government Employees| work = The New York Times| access-date = 2025-03-19| date = 2025-03-04| url = https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/19/us/politics/elon-musk-doge-personal-data.html| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20250304075439/https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/19/us/politics/elon-musk-doge-personal-data.html| archive-date = March 4, 2025| last1 = Duehren| first1 = Andrew| last2 = Kang| first2 = Cecilia}}

{{See also|Executive Order 14151|2025 United States government online resource removals}}

In December 2024, Musk tweeted: "DEI must DIE".{{Cite web| title = Elon Musk and DOGE eye $120 billion in cuts on federal diversity spending: report| work = The Independent| access-date = 2025-04-11| date = 2025-01-17| url = https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/elon-musk-doge-diversity-diversity-b2681232.html |quote=Musk, who has faced multiple lawsuits over alleged racism at his companies, is a vocal critic of DEI work. "DEI must DIE. The point was to end discrimination, not replace it with different discrimination," Musk wrote on X in December. "'Diversity, Equity and Inclusion' are propaganda words for racism, sexism and other-isms."}} An internal DOGE report obtained by the Washington Post on February 15, 2025, outlined a three phase process by which it would lead a DEI purge within the federal government:{{Cite news |last1=Shapiro |first1=Leslie |last2=Wolfe |first2=Daniel |last3=Natanson |first3=Hannah |last4=Dehghanpoor |first4=Chris |date=2025-02-15 |title=See inside DOGE's playbook for eliminating DEI |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2025/doge-playbook-dei-trump/ |access-date=2025-02-17 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}

• In phase one, on his first day, Trump would rescind all DEI-related executive orders and initiatives, dissolve offices at federal organizations with a DEI role and terminate their employees, ask federal websites to remove all DEI material, and terminate all DEI contracts.
• In phase two, from January 21 to February 19, the government would purge employees without any DEI role but who had been "corrupted" by it. For instance, DOGE has been searching NOAA databases to find employees associated with DEI initiatives.{{Cite web |last=Freedman |first=Andrew |date=2025-02-05 |title=NOAA sees DOGE search for its DEI-related information |url=https://www.axios.com/2025/02/05/doge-noaa-dei-information-search |access-date=2025-02-21 |work=Axios}}
• In phase three, from February 20 to July 19, DOGE would commit mass-scale firings of any employee in any part of the government who did not take part in any DEI initiative, but was nonetheless determined through unknown criteria to be "DEI-related".

Records show that those who were workshopping the plan include: Stephanie Holmes, former Jones Day lawyer specialized in anti-DEI corporate work; Anthony Armstrong, who helped Musk acquire Twitter; Brian Bjelde, longtime SpaceX employee; Noah Peters, involved in Project 2025; and Adam Ramada, a venture capitalist turned DOGE Team lead.{{Cite news| issn = 0190-8286| last1 = Natanson| first1 = Hannah| last2 = Dehghanpoor| first2 = Chris| title = Records show how DOGE planned Trump's DEI purge — and who gets fired next| newspaper = The Washington Post| access-date = 2025-03-10| date = 2025-02-15| url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/02/15/doge-fire-federal-employees-trump-dei/}}

At an Oval Office press conference on February 11, 2025, Musk pledged to make DOGE's actions "maximally transparent" and to publish them on a government website.{{cite news |last1=Novak |first1=Matt |date=February 12, 2025 |title=Elon Musk Claims the DOGE Website Offers Transparency, but There's Nothing There |url=https://gizmodo.com/elon-musk-claims-the-doge-website-offers-transparency-but-theres-nothing-there-2000562659 |work=Gizmodo}} Doge.gov went live the next day: the main page showed DOGE's tweets, a "follow on X" ad,{{Cite magazine| issn = 1059-1028| last = Gilbert| first = David| title = DOGE's Website Is Just One Big X Ad| magazine = Wired| access-date = 2025-04-11| url = https://www.wired.com/story/doge-website-is-just-one-big-x-ad/ |quote="It is promoting the X account as the main source, with the website secondary," Declan Chidlow, a web developer, tells WIRED. "This isn't usually how things are handled, and it indicates that the X account is taking priority over the actual website itself."}} and a few tabs;{{Cite web |last=Steakin |first=Will |title=Official DOGE website updated, promising 'savings' updates by Valentine's Day |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/official-doge-website-updated-promising-savings-updates-valentines/story?id=118757305 |access-date=2025-02-13 |work=ABC News}} waste.gov was made private after DOGE got caught using a blog theme with the word "diverse", a Trump policy violation.{{Cite web |last=Merlan |first=Anna |date=February 12, 2025 |title=Waste.Gov is literal garbage |url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/02/waste-gov-website-etudes-doge/ |access-date=2025-02-21 |website=Mother Jones |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Koebler |first=Jason |date=2025-02-12 |title=Elon Musk's Waste.gov Is Just a WordPress Theme Placeholder Page |url=https://www.404media.co/elon-musks-waste-gov-is-just-a-wordpress-theme-placeholder-page/ |access-date=2025-02-17 |work=404 Media}} Days later, hackers posted mocking messages on Doge.gov.{{Cite news |last=Koebler |first=Jason |date=2024-02-14 |title=Anyone Can Push Updates to the DOGE.gov Website |url=https://www.404media.co/anyone-can-push-updates-to-the-doge-gov-website-2/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250214064422/https://www.404media.co/anyone-can-push-updates-to-the-doge-gov-website-2/ |archive-date=2025-02-14 |access-date=2025-02-14 |work=404 Media}}{{Cite web |date=2025-02-14 |title=Meet the U.S. Government |url=https://doge.gov/workforce?orgId=7cd300eb-cf3f-47f5-90f1-9e66a8bc8d07 |url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250214075951/https://doge.gov/workforce?orgId=7cd300eb-cf3f-47f5-90f1-9e66a8bc8d07&ref=404media.co |archive-date=February 14, 2025 |access-date=2025-02-14 |website=DOGE.gov |quote=THESE "EXPERTS" LEFT THEIR DATABASE OPEN – roro}} Soon after, HuffPost reported that doge.gov was posting headcount and total wages of National Reconnaissance Office staff;{{cite news |last1=Bendery |first1=Jennifer |title=Elon Musk's DOGE Posts Classified Data On Its New Website |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/elon-musk-doge-posts-classified-data_n_67ae646de4b0513a8d767112 |work=HuffPost |date=February 14, 2025}} a spokesperson clarified a week later that, while not being classified, the information was not intended for public release.{{Cite web |last1=Steakin |first1=Will |last2=Bruggeman |first2=Lucien |last3=Smith |first3=Cindy |date=2025-02-17 |title=DOGE data release criticized by intel community; Trump admin says it's public data |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/agency-data-shared-doge-online-sparks-concern-intelligence/story?id=118858837 |access-date=2025-02-18 |work=ABC News}}{{cite web |first= A.J. |last=Vicens |title=US spy agency data on DOGE website was 'unclassified' but not meant for public release |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-spy-agency-data-doge-website-was-unclassified-not-meant-public-release-2025-02-21/ |publisher=Reuters |access-date=25 February 2025}} At the end of February, doge.gov did not "provide names and contact information for the officials and employees associated with its work, an organizational chart or a calendar of past and upcoming activity", according to The Daily News.{{Cite web| author1 = Zoe Tillman| author2= Erik Larson Bloomberg| title = Judge prods 'Where is Mr. Musk' as DOGE legal challenges build| work = The Daily News| access-date = 2025-02-26| date = 2025-02-25| url = https://www.thedailynewsonline.com/news/judge-prods-where-is-mr-musk-as-doge-legal-challenges-build/article_72ff05b6-f3ce-11ef-9dec-83e9cb53380b.html}}

DOGE promised "receipts" by Valentine's Day; they appeared on February 17, as search results from the FPDS showing contract terminations. How DOGE calculates savings is unclear.{{Cite magazine| last = Popli| first = Nik| title = Here's What DOGE Is Doing Across the Federal Government| magazine = Time| access-date = 2025-02-22| date = 2025-02-13| url = https://time.com/7222251/doge-musk-federal-workers-government/}} Analyses found significant discrepancies in its accounting: roughly one third of canceled contracts did not yield any actual savings or were already obligated;{{cite news |last1=Foley |first1=Ryan J. |date=25 February 2025 |title=Nearly 40% of contracts canceled by Musk's DOGE are expected to produce no savings |url=https://apnews.com/article/doge-federal-contracts-canceled-musk-trump-cuts-a65976a725412934ad686389889db0df |access-date=26 February 2025 |work=AP News |language=en |agency=Associated Press}} in one case it miscounted the value of a $8 million contract it had canceled as $8 billion;{{Cite news |last1=Bhatia |first1=Aatish |last2=Katz |first2=Josh |last3=Sanger-Katz |first3=Margot |last4=Singer |first4=Ethan |date=2025-02-19 |title=DOGE Claimed It Saved $8 Billion in One Contract. It Was Actually $8 Million. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/18/upshot/doge-contracts-musk-trump.html |access-date=2025-02-25 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} $46.5 billion of its purported $55 billion savings were not linked to any specific items. After two weeks, hundreds of claimed savings have been scrubbed from its "wall", including large items; Martha Gimbel, director of The Budget Lab at Yale, doubted the wall's reliability.{{Cite web| title = DOGE website offers error-filled window into Musk's government overhaul| work = Yahoo News| access-date = 2025-04-10| date = 2025-03-04| url = https://ca.news.yahoo.com/doge-website-offers-error-filled-224116614.html |quote="Anyone can put numbers and words on a website," Gimbel said in an interview. "In order to be transparent, the numbers and words have to be accurate. They've already been shown not to be accurate so why should I trust it?"}} On March 13, journalists discovered that DOGE removed federal identification numbers from the publicly available source code, making their receipts hard to verify; a White House official invoked security to justify DOGE's opacity.{{Cite web| title = DOGE makes its latest errors harder to find| work = The Seattle Times| access-date = 2025-03-13| date = 2025-03-13| url = https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/nation-politics/doge-makes-its-latest-errors-harder-to-find/}} On March 26, DOGE has removed USAID contract details due to "legal reason"; about 45% of the items disappeared from their website, according to CBS News.{{Cite web| last1 = Ingram| first1 = Julia| first2 = Graham| last2 = Kates|last3 = Ruetenik| first3 = Dan| title = DOGE removes details on canceled USAID contracts from its online 'wall of receipts'| publisher = CBS News| access-date = 2025-04-10| date = 2025-03-26| url = https://www.cbsnews.com/news/doge-usaid-contracts-details-removed-wall-of-receipts/}} Critics said DOGE is redefining fraud to target federal employees and programs to build political support for their cuts;{{Cite news |last1=Diamond |first1=Dan |last2=Siddiqui |first2=Faiz |date=March 7, 2025 |title=DOGE redefines 'fraud' to defend cutting federal employees, programs |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/03/07/doge-fraud-cuts-elon-musk-trump/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=March 8, 2025 |issn=0190-8286 |quote=But independent watchdogs and outside analysts say Trump and Musk are using overly broad claims of fraud to build political support for sweeping cuts to programs and offices.}} former Republican budget experts said the cuts were driven by political ideology more than frugality. Professional auditors have been asked by Wired to evaluate DOGE's audit, and one of them said: "It's a heist, stealing a vast amount of government data."{{Cite magazine| issn = 1059-1028| last = Elliott| first = Vittoria| title = 'It's a Heist': Real Federal Auditors Are Horrified by DOGE| magazine = Wired| access-date = 2025-03-19| url = https://www.wired.com/story/federal-auditors-doge-elon-musk/}}

DOGE has extended its public relations beyond contract updates. After its first official action, DOGE's X account showed proof that it took down the Chief Diversity Officers Executive Council website, and added: "Progress"; Musk quoted the tweet and said: "It begins".{{Cite web| title = 'Deleted': Elon Musk Executes Trump's Vision with DOGE's First Official Act| access-date = 2025-04-11| date = 2025-01-21| url = https://dailygalaxy.com/2025/01/deleted-elon-musk-executes-trumps-vision-with-doges-first-official-act/}} It has been boosting anti-DEI policies,{{Cite web| last = Department of Government Efficiency [@DOGE]| title = Under the previous administration, @StateDept made DEI 20% of Foreign Service Officer performance, assessing diplomats by whether they: - Avoided "gendered adjectives" or "faint praise" - Asked local organizations to "promote DEIA training/programs/lectures" and "annual DEIA awards ceremon[ies]" or focused foreign law enforcement cooperation on "racial and gender justice issues" - Set race/gender quotas on embassy speaking panels and at other diplomatic events | via = Twitter| format = Tweet| access-date = 2025-04-11| date = 2025-04-07| url = https://x.com/DOGE/status/1909354221209788659}} and at times acted as message carrier.{{Cite web| last = Department of Government Efficiency [@DOGE]| title = This letter was sent to the departments of education in all 50 states, notifying them they have 14 days to remove all DEI programming in all public schools. Institutions which fail to comply may face a loss of federal funding.| via = Twitter| format = Tweet| access-date = 2025-04-11| date = 2025-02-15| url = https://x.com/DOGE/status/1890580814850605211}} DOGE member Antonio Gracias appeared on Fox and Friends, David Sacks' podcast, and at a town hall rally held by Musk in Wisconsin{{Cite web| title = Wisconsin loss a warning sign for GOP about Musk's campaign role | publisher = CNN| access-date = 2025-04-12| date = 2025-04-02| url = https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/02/politics/wisconsin-supreme-court-musk/index.html}} to claim that undocumented immigrants were abusing Social Security and committing voter fraud. Other sources {{who| reason=Sacks and Gracias are not sources, so the "other" is incorrect|date=May 2025}} estimate that undocumented immigrants contribute $20 billion more annually to Social Security than they receive.{{Cite web| first = Aaron | last = Navarro| title = Elon Musk, DOGE use access to Social Security data to elevate claims against migrants| publisher = CBS News| access-date = 2025-04-11| date = 2025-04-04| url = https://www.cbsnews.com/news/elon-musk-doge-social-security-data-elevate-claims-against-migrants/}}{{Cite news| last = Fowler| first = Stephen| title = How DOGE may have improperly used Social Security data to push voter fraud narratives| publisher = NPR| access-date = 2025-04-11| date = 2025-04-11| url = https://www.npr.org/2025/04/11/nx-s1-5352470/doge-musk-social-security-voting}} The DOGE account has retweeted and commented on similar accusations.{{Cite web| title = Department of Government Efficiency on X: "RT @AntonioGracias: Your data is apples to oranges. The data you show for the 2016 to 2020 period is enumeration for all immigrants in ALL" / X| work = X (formerly Twitter)| access-date = 2025-04-11| date = 2025-04-01| url = https://x.com/DOGE/status/1906882062755242214}}{{Cite web| last = Department of Government Efficiency [@DOGE]| title = Under the Biden administration, it was routine for Border Patrol to admit aliens into the United States with no legal status and minimal screening. So far, CBP identified a subset of 6.3k individuals paroled into the United States since 2023 on the FBI's Terrorist Screening| via = Twitter| format = Tweet| access-date = 2025-04-12| date = 2025-04-10| url = https://x.com/DOGE/status/1910440762254250085}} DOGE leaders Steve Davis, Joe Gebbia, Aram Moghaddassi, Brad Smith, Anthony Armstrong, Tom Krause, and Tyler Hassen appeared on Fox News alongside Musk to defend DOGE's mission.{{Cite web| last = Shapero| first = Julia| title = Here's who's on Elon Musk's DOGE team: 7 names| work = The Hill| format = Text| access-date = 2025-04-05| date = 2025-03-28| url = https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5218847-meet-the-doge-team/}}

In the op-ed presenting the DOGE plan, Musk and Ramaswamy promised to work "closely" with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and described the decisions of "unelected bureaucrats" as "antidemocratic". On his first day in office, Trump restored Schedule F to speed up firing;{{Cite web| last = Nihill| first = Caroline| title = Trump restores Schedule F via executive order| work = FedScoop| access-date = 2025-03-11| date = 2025-01-21| url = https://fedscoop.com/trump-restores-schedule-f-via-executive-order/}} earlier he nominated its champion, Russell Vought, to lead OMB.{{Cite news| last = Shivaram| first = Deepa| title = Trump nominates Russ Vought for White House budget director once again| publisher = NPR| access-date = 2025-03-11| date = 2024-11-22| url = https://www.npr.org/2024/11/22/nx-s1-5193351/trump-russ-vought-omb-budget-director |quote="Vought was the budget director in Trump's first term and pushed to reshape the federal civil service by creating a new class of federal workers known as Schedule F. He has said civil servants who work in the government — people who are not political appointees — should be loyal to the president, and not the institutions they work for."}} Vought founded the Center for Renewing America (CRA), where he drafted executive orders, regulations, memos, and served as an adivsor for Project 2025.{{Cite web |last1=Devine |first1=Curt |last2=Tolan |first2=Casey |last3=Ash |first3=Audrey |last4=Lah |first4=Kyung |date=2024-08-15 |title=In secretly recorded video, Project 2025 co-author says he's drafted hundreds of executive orders for Trump |url=https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/15/politics/russ-vought-project-2025-trump-secret-recording-invs/index.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250305011909/https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/15/politics/russ-vought-project-2025-trump-secret-recording-invs/index.html |archive-date=2025-03-05 |access-date=2025-03-11 |publisher=CNN |language=en |quote="[Micah Meadowcroft, CRA research director] described Vought's work preparing executive orders and policy playbooks as "the second phase" of Project 2025. "}}{{Cite news |last=Samuels |first=Brett |date=May 2, 2023 |title=Ex-Trump Aide John McEntee Joins Heritage Operation As Senior Adviser |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/3984096-ex-trump-aide-john-mcentee-joins-heritage-operation-as-senior-adviser/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230531225857/https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/3984096-ex-trump-aide-john-mcentee-joins-heritage-operation-as-senior-adviser/ |archive-date=May 31, 2023 |access-date=September 9, 2023 |work=The Hill}}{{Cite web |last=Lardner |first=Richard |date=2024-08-05 |title=A chief architect of Project 2025 is ready to shock Washington if Donald Trump wins a second term |url=https://apnews.com/article/project-2025-russell-vought-trump-federal-government-38fc446832062e40fc2ccad6f3348dfd |access-date=2025-03-11 |website=AP News |language=en |quote="A chief architect of Project 2025 — the controversial conservative blueprint to remake the federal government — Vought is likely to be appointed to a high-ranking post in a second Trump administration. And he's been drafting a so-far secret "180-Day Transition Playbook" to speed the plan's implementation to avoid a repeat of the chaotic start that dogged Trump's first term.}} In multiple speeches, Vought swore to put career civil servants "in trauma".{{Cite web| title = 'Put them in trauma': Inside a key MAGA leader's plans for a new Trump agenda| work = Government Executive| access-date = 2025-03-10| date = 2024-10-28| url = https://www.govexec.com/management/2024/10/inside-key-maga-leaders-plans-new-trump-agenda/400607/}}

Vice President JD Vance observed that DOGE matters less for saving money than for "making the bureaucracy responsive to the elected president".{{Cite web| title = Vance reveals DOGE's 'most important' undertaking: 'I don't even think it's the cost savings'| date = January 31, 2025| access-date = 2025-03-07| url = https://nypost.com/2025/01/31/us-news/vance-reveals-doges-most-important-undertaking-i-dont-even-think-its-the-cost-savings/}} Vance shares a longstanding collaboration with Kevin Roberts, one of the architects of Project 2025.{{Cite web| title = The Trump Cabinet Picks That Have Ties to Project 2025| date = November 29, 2024| access-date = 2025-03-11| url = https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/trump-cabinet-picks-with-project-2025-ties.html| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20250222021720/https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/trump-cabinet-picks-with-project-2025-ties.html| archive-date = February 22, 2025|quote="the vice-president-elect is a prominent ally of the Heritage Foundation and a longtime friend and collaborator with foundation president and Project 2025 architect Kevin D. Roberts. Vance wrote the foreword for Roberts's upcoming book, Dawn's Early Light: Taking Back Washington to Save America"}} Ed Kilgore described Vought as the "glue" that ties Musk and Republicans, saying that "OMB can exchange intel with DOGE on potential targets in the bureaucracy, while OMB will definitely guide congressional Republicans as they put together massive budget-reconciliation and appropriations bills".{{Cite web| last = Kilgore| first = Ed| title = Russell Vought Is the Glue Between Elon Musk and Republicans| work = Intelligencer| access-date = 2025-03-11| date = 2025-02-07| url = https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/russell-vought-omb-glue-elon-musk-republicans.html}} Wired and The New York Times reported that Vought helped Musk find his way into the bureaucracy.{{Cite magazine| issn = 1059-1028| last = Lahut| first = Jake| title = Elon Musk's Takeover Is Being Aided by a Trumpworld Power Couple| magazine = Wired| access-date = 2025-03-06| url = https://www.wired.com/story/katie-stephen-miller-elon-musk-takeover/}}{{Cite web| title = Inside the Trump-Musk Relationship| work = The New York Times| access-date = 2025-03-11| date = 2025-02-15| url =https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/05/us/politics/trump-musk-relationship.html| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20250215012745/https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/05/us/politics/trump-musk-relationship.html| archive-date = February 15, 2025| last1 = Bidgood| first1 = Jess| last2 = Swan| first2 = Jonathan}} Paul Winfree, Trump's director of budget policy during his first administration, characterized the relationship between Musk and Vought: "When Elon Musk says something, everybody responds to it. The government is not like that [...] You need people like Russ and, quite frankly, the people who Russ has been bringing into OMB as well, who are staffers who do know how to, in fact, push changes through government institutions."{{Cite web| last = Messerly| first = Megan| title = Inside Elon Musk and Russ Vought's quiet alliance| work = Politico| access-date = 2025-03-25| date = 2025-03-24| url = https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/24/inside-elon-musk-and-russ-voughts-quiet-alliance-00243290}} Musk mentioned using DOGE to impound funds, a tactic Vought discussed many times in his CRA papers.{{Cite news| title = The Real Mastermind Behind Trump's Imperial Presidency| work = Bloomberg.com| access-date = 2025-05-02| url = https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2025-russell-vought-doge-musk-trump/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250426202050/https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2025-russell-vought-doge-musk-trump/ |archive-date=April 26, 2025 |quote=“Impound, baby, impound!” wrote Mark Paoletta in an X post that tagged Musk. Paoletta, who served as the OMB general counsel under Vought (and has since returned to that post), was referring to the idea of impoundment, whereby a president declines to spend money that Congress has appropriated. He suggested Musk could use the tactic “as a tool” to “find savings.” Vought’s think tank had published numerous papers suggesting just such an approach, one of which Paoletta included in his message to Musk. In the weeks that followed, Musk repeatedly brought up the idea of using DOGE to unilaterally withhold funds and mentioned impoundment in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece in November 2024.}}

Critics and proponents alike have noted parallels between the policies advocated for in Project 2025 and DOGE's stated goals and actions. Nine of the fifteen agencies DOGE first targeted had been identified by Project 2025 for elimination or downsizing; Bill Hoagland, former Republican staffer and director of the Senate Budget Committee for more than 20 years, considers that the DOGE playbook "has not been for the dollar savings, but more for the philosophical and ideological differences conservatives have with the work these agencies do".{{cite news |last1=Reid |first1=Tim |last2=Coster |first2=Helen |last3=Oliphant |first3=James |date=February 12, 2025 |title=Musk's DOGE cuts based more on political ideology than real cost savings so far |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/musk-cuts-based-more-political-ideology-than-real-cost-savings-so-far-2025-02-12/ |publisher=Reuters |quote=The first phase of the rapid-fire effort by Tesla, opens new tab CEO Elon Musk and President Donald Trump to cut waste from government agencies appears driven more by an ideological assault on federal agencies long hated by conservatives than a good-faith effort to save taxpayer dollars, according to two veteran Republican budget experts.}} Jill Filipovic opined that "the mass firings, the power grabs, and the agency shutterings are not just Musk's doing. They were planned and proposed well before Trump was even elected, right there for everyone to see, in Project 2025."{{Cite news| issn = 1091-2339| last = Filipovic| first = Jill| title = Project 2025 Makes Trump's Goal Chillingly Clear| work = Slate| access-date = 2025-03-11| date = 2025-02-24| url = https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2025/02/donald-trump-project-2025-elon-musk-doge.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250224104321/https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2025/02/donald-trump-project-2025-elon-musk-doge.html |archive-date=February 24, 2025 |quote=The best way to implement the Project 2025 vision, its authors are clear, is to gut the federal bureaucracy, firing career civil servants and those who lack the requisite MAGA loyalty. "The new Administration must fill its ranks with political appointees," the document flat-out directs.}} The BBC suggests that, by unifying decision chains so that Trump controls independent agencies, DOGE allows Trump to implement the unitary executive theory advocated in Project 2025.{{Cite web |last=Wendling |first=Mike |date=2025-02-14 |title=What is Project 2025? Wish list for Trump second term, explained |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c977njnvq2do |access-date=2025-02-15 |publisher=BBC |quote="Project 2025 proposes that the entire federal bureaucracy, including independent agencies such as the Department of Justice, be placed under direct presidential control - a controversial idea known as "unitary executive theory". In practice, that would streamline decision-making, allowing the president to directly implement policies in a number of areas."}} NPR noted that "many of the actions that Musk took, that his DOGE group took were foreshadowed in Project 2025."{{Cite web| title = How Project 2025 influenced Trump's first 100 days: The NPR Politics Podcast| publisher = NPR| access-date = 2025-04-24| url = https://www.npr.org/2025/04/21/1246202697/the-npr-politics-podcast-draft-04-21-2025}}

{{See also|US federal agencies targeted by DOGE}}

By the end of January, DOGE had installed officials of their choosing at the top of agencies controlling critical parts of the government: the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the United States Digital Service (USDS), and the General Services Administration (GSA). After clashing, several leaders of these organizations were replaced by DOGE members.{{Cite news |author=John L. Dorman |author2=Grace Eliza Goodwin |title=Here are the top federal officials who have left their roles after clashing with DOGE |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/doge-list-officials-resigned-fired-musk-trump-federal-government-2025-2 |access-date=2025-03-14 |work=Business Insider}} Access to information systems across the bureaucracy allowed DOGE to trace money flows. In some cases, DOGE teams halted these flows. DOGE coordinated with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to dismantle the Agency for International Development (USAID). Their bigger targets remain the Treasury (USDT), the Social Security Administration (SSA), and Health and Human Services (HHS): spendings by HHS amount to 31%, by SSA to 16%, and by USDT to 15% of the federal budget{{Cite web |title=Government Spending Explorer {{!}} USAspending |url=https://usaspending.gov/explorer |access-date=2025-03-16}}{{emdash}}almost two thirds of all government expenses.{{Cite web |title=Fiscal Data Explains Federal Spending |url=https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/americas-finance-guide/federal-spending/ |access-date=2025-03-16}}{{Cite news| issn = 1059-1028| last = Giles| first = Matt| title = Here's All the Health and Human Services Data DOGE Has Access To| work = Wired| access-date = 2025-05-06| url = https://www.wired.com/story/doge-data-access-hhs/ |archive-url=https://archive.ph/5P4A0 |archive-date=April 25, 2025}} In a lawsuit featuring DOGE's culture of secrecy, Judge Christopher R. Cooper found that it has "obtained unprecedented access to sensitive personal and classified data and payment systems across federal agencies", and that it "appears to have the power [...] to drastically reshape and even eliminate them wholesale" without congressional input.{{cite news |last1=Montague |first1=Zach |last2=Kim |first2=Minho |date=March 10, 2025 |title=Musk's Team Must Produce Documents to Comply With Open Records Laws, Judge Says |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/10/us/politics/musk-doge-foia-lawsuit.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250311035833/https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/10/us/politics/musk-doge-foia-lawsuit.html |archive-date=March 11, 2025 |access-date=March 11, 2025 |work=The New York Times}}{{cite news |last1=Stark |first1=Ian |date=March 11, 2025 |title=DOGE ordered to eventually honor Freedom of Information Act requests |url=https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2025/03/11/doge-foia-request-judge-ruling/4601741690689/ |access-date=March 11, 2025 |agency=United Press International}}{{cite news |last1=Raymond |first1=Nate |date=March 11, 2025 |title=US judge says Musk's DOGE must release records on operations run in 'secrecy' |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-judge-says-musks-doge-must-release-records-operations-run-secrecy-2025-03-11/ |access-date=March 11, 2025 |work=Reuters}} The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has been auditing DOGE since March over its data handling at various cabinet-level agencies.{{Cite magazine |last=Feiger |first=Leah |title=Elon Musk's DOGE Is Getting Audited |url=https://www.wired.com/story/gao-audit-elon-musk-doge-government-agencies/ |access-date=2025-04-10 |magazine=Wired |issn=1059-1028}}

At the SSA, DOGE demanded access to databases with information about any holder of a Social Security number; Michael Russo, along with Steve Davis, pressured top officials to give Akash Bobba access to "everything, including source code".{{Cite web |date=2025-03-10 |title=DOGE's Social Security takeover risked data of Americans 'leaking into wrong hands' |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/doge-social-security-data-leak-b2712292.html |access-date=2025-03-10 |work=The Independent}} On March 28, Wired magazine reported that DOGE is putting together a team to migrate the SSA's base code from COBOL to a more modern programming language, with the goal of achieving this in a matter of months, whereas most experts say it should take several years to do and test this safely.{{cite magazine |author1=Makena Kelly |date=March 28, 2025 |title=DOGE Plans to Rebuild SSA Code Base in Months, Risking Benefits and System Collapse |url=https://www.wired.com/story/doge-rebuild-social-security-administration-cobol-benefits/ |magazine=Wired}}{{cite web |date=April 4, 2025 |title=From COBOL To Crisis? DOGE's Plan To Rewrite Social Security's Code In Months Sparks Fears Of Payment Disruptions |url=https://finance.yahoo.com/news/cobol-crisis-doges-plan-rewrite-163043543.html |website=yahoo! finance}} The Washington Post reported that DOGE and the Homeland Security Department had been behind the Social Security Administration's action, on April 8, of falsely listing over 6,000 living immigrants in their database of dead people, after DOGE made efforts to use information from the Social Security Administration against immigrants; two days later, guards escorted senior SSA executive Greg Pearre, who clashed with DOGE member Scott Coulter.{{cite news |last1=Natanson |first1=Hannah |last2=Rein |first2=Lisa |last3=Kornfield |first3=Meryl |date=April 12, 2025 |title=Trump administration overrode Social Security staff to list immigrants as dead |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/04/12/trump-immigrants-dead-social-security/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250413022823/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/04/12/trump-immigrants-dead-social-security/ |archive-date=April 13, 2025 |access-date=April 13, 2025 |newspaper=The Washington Post}} In response to a court decision that prevented DOGE to access SSA systems, SSA top official, Leland Dudek, a DOGE member, has been threatening to shut down the agency: "Really, I want to turn it off and let the courts figure out how they want to run a federal agency".{{Cite web |last=Mack |first=M. B. |date=2025-03-21 |title=Social Security Chief Threatens to 'Turn Off' Agency After DOGE Blocked From Accessing Americans' Personal Data |url=https://www.latintimes.com/social-security-chief-threatens-turn-off-agency-after-doge-blocked-accessing-americans-578956 |access-date=2025-03-21 |work=Latin Times}}

At HHS, DOGE member Luke Farritor has been made administrator of grants.gov on March 29; one week later he removed posting permissions to federal users; a new grantreview@hhs.gov has been created; National Institutes of Health (NIH) employees have been told that DOGE will review and approve Notice of Funding Opportunities (NOFO).{{Cite news |date=2025-04-12 |title=DOGE takes control of federal grants website |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/04/11/doge-controls-federal-grant-postings/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250412050900/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/04/11/doge-controls-federal-grant-postings/ |archive-date=April 12, 2025 |access-date=2025-04-13 |newspaper=The Washington Post}} The principal deputy assistant secretary for operations declared in a February 13 sworn statement that DOGE employees grafted to the agency have full access to all unclassified agency records and are tasked, among other things, with the obligation to destroy or erase copied HHS data or information when no longer needed for official purposes.{{Cite web |last=Cheney |first=Kyle |date=2025-02-21 |title=Wondering what DOGE is up to? Check the court docs. |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2025/02/21/doge-court-documents-musk-00205534 |access-date=2025-02-23 |work=Politico}}

At the Department of Interior (DOI), Wired has reported that DOGE members Tyler Hassen, Stephanie Holmes, and Katrine Trampe have been seeking unfettered access to DOI's payroll, human resources, and credentialing systems, like the Federal Personnel and Payroll System (FPPS); they also sought permission to create, pause, and delete email accounts. The chief information and information security officers and the associate solicitor at were placed on leave on March 28, and told they were being investigated for workplace behavior.{{Cite magazine |last=Marchman |first=Tim |title=Top Officials Placed on Leave After Denying DOGE Access to Federal Payroll Systems |url=https://www.wired.com/story/doge-access-federal-payroll-systems-officials-leave-interior/ |access-date=2025-03-31 |magazine=Wired |issn=1059-1028}}

At the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP), DOGE registered trumpcard.gov, and a Trump card visa has appeared on immigration forms; Wired reported that DOGE members Marko Elez and Edward Coristine worked on the project.{{Cite news| issn = 1059-1028| last = Matsakis| first = Louise| title = A 'Trump Card Visa' Is Already Showing Up in Immigration Forms| work = Wired| access-date = 2025-05-08| url = https://www.wired.com/story/doge-trump-gold-visa-program-immigration/}}

According to Wired, DOGE shifted focus by April 2025, to data collection and the exfiltration of sensitive information from government agencies to private databases. Whistleblowers alleged an attempt to build a "master database" on American citizens. Democrats raised concerns over potential cybersecurity and privacy law violations.{{Cite news |last=Nguyen |first=Tina |date=2025-04-18 |title=House Democrats: DOGE is building a 'master database' of Americans' sensitive information |url=https://www.theverge.com/tech/652215/doge-cross-agency-master-database-sensitive-information |access-date=2025-04-21 |work=The Verge}} The Privacy Act of 1974 has been cited in up to fourteen lawsuits pertaining to DOGE access to data that could contain sensitive personal data.{{Cite web |last=Nihill |first=Caroline |date=2025-03-18 |title=House Democrat wants to modernize privacy law in light of DOGE data access |url=https://fedscoop.com/lori-trahan-modernize-privacy-act-doge-data-access/ |access-date=2025-04-24 |website=FedScoop |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=2025-04-18 |title=DOGE is building a 'master database' of sensitive information, top Oversight Democrat says |url=https://www.nextgov.com/digital-government/2025/04/doge-building-master-database-sensitive-information-top-oversight-democrat-says/404693/ |access-date=2025-04-24 |website=Nextgov.com |language=en}} Several of these lawsuits sought restraining orders and some were temporarily successful.{{cite news |last1=Mitchell |first1=Billy |title=Federal employees re-up lawsuit against OPM’s use of mass email server |url=https://fedscoop.com/opm-email-server-lawsuit-amended-complaint-musk-doge/ |access-date=6 May 2025 |work=FedScoop |date=11 February 2025}}{{cite news |title=Federal judge blocks DOGE access to sensitive Education Department, OPM information |url=https://fedscoop.com/federal-judge-blocks-doge-access-to-sensitive-education-department-opm-information/ |access-date=6 May 2025 |work=FedScoop |date=24 February 2025}} Democratic congressional representative Gerry Connolly stated "I am concerned that DOGE is moving personal information across agencies without the notification required under the Privacy Act or related laws, such that the American people are wholly unaware their data is being manipulated in this way." On March 18, due to the lawsuits, Rep. Lori Trahan announced an effort to modernize and update the Privacy Act to address growing concerns about government surveillance, unvetted access, and misuse. The Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to grant DOGE access to social security data.{{Cite news| title = Trump brings DOGE fight over access to Social Security data to Supreme Court | access-date = 2025-05-07| url = https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/02/politics/doge-fight-social-security-data-supreme-court}}

At the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), a whistleblower, Daniel Berulis, has revealed that the security to prevent access from unauthorized mobile device systems has been momentarily disabled. Temporary superusers transferred NRLB data (including lawyers contact information) and erased their trace afterwards. During extraction, they left the system exposed to public entry. Days before entering NLRB, Berulis noticed that DOGE member Jordan Wick was publicly working on a backdoor software days before entering NLRB;{{Cite news |last=McLaughlin |first=Jenna |date=2025-04-15 |title=A whistleblower's disclosure details how DOGE may have taken sensitive labor data |url=https://www.npr.org/2025/04/15/nx-s1-5355896/doge-nlrb-elon-musk-spacex-security |access-date=2025-04-15 |publisher=NPR |quote="Berulis said he noticed five PowerShell downloads on the system, a task automation program that would allow engineers to run automated commands. There were several code libraries that got his attention — tools that he said appeared to be designed to automate and mask data exfiltration. There was a tool to generate a seemingly endless number of IP addresses called "requests-ip-rotator," and a commonly used automation tool for web developers called "browserless" — both repositories starred or favorited by Wick, the DOGE engineer, according to an archive of his GitHub account reviewed by NPR."}} earlier Wick posted to his code repository several tools seemingly related to his DOGE work.{{Cite web |last=Sullivan |first=Mark |date=2025-03-04 |title=This DOGE staffer's GitHub posts might help us understand how Elon Musk wants to bring AI into the government |url=https://www.fastcompany.com/91290599/this-doge-staffers-github-posts-might-help-us-understand-how-elon-musk-wants-to-bring-ai-into-the-government |access-date=2025-04-04 |work=Fast Company |quote="Wick posted the code for a tool that automatically downloads DMs from Twitter accounts. The code specifies Twitter accounts, which existed only until the social platform rebranded to "X" in October 2023, suggesting the possibility that the tool could be used to search through the digital past of government employees looking for disagreeable opinions or references. Another tool appeared to be designed for collecting sensitive data from government agency org charts. The tool contained fields for capturing the employee's office, a 1-5 satisfaction rating, union status, and whether or not their position is statutorily mandated."}} Login attempts from an IP address in Russia were made minutes after DOGE gained control of the systems, using the username and password of an account created by DOGE. After Berulis and his team requested help to investigate the breach, he was sent an envelope with a threatening letter and pictures taken by drone of him walking his dog.

At the Department of Homeland Security, sources told Wired that DOGE is building a master database that connect SSA data, IRS data, biometric data, and voting records; DOGE members Edward Coristine, Kyle Schutt, Aram Moghaddassi, and Payton Rehling have been granted access to United States Immigration and Naturalization Service data, which contain information on refugees, asylum seeker, naturalized citizens, and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients.

File:Federal Civilian Job Cuts By President May 2025.svg

As of May 2, 2025, the federal civilian workforce has shrunk by 26,000 roles since the beginning of Trump's second term, excluding the U.S. Postal Service. In total 260,000 federal employees have taken the buyout, retired early or been fired.{{cite news |title=US federal employment drops again as DOGE cuts stack up |url=https://www.reuters.com/business/world-at-work/us-federal-employment-drops-again-doge-cuts-stack-up-2025-05-02/ |access-date=6 May 2025 |publisher=Reuters |date=May 2, 2025}}

Trump issued a memorandum titled Hiring Freeze on his first day in office. The memo asks the OMB director to submit a plan to reduce the size of the federal workforce, in consultation with the director of OPM and "the Administrator of the United States DOGE Service".{{Cite web |date=2025-01-20 |title=Hiring Freeze |url=https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/hiring-freeze/ |access-date=2025-03-15 |work=The White House}} The next day, Charles Ezell, the acting administrator of OPM, ordered federal agencies to close their DEI programs by 5 PM EST the following day.{{Cite web |date=2025-01-22 |title=Employees Being Placed On Admin Leave As DEI Offices Prepare To Be Shuttered |url=https://www.fedsmith.com/2025/01/22/employees-being-placed-on-admin-leave-as-dei-offices-prepare-to-be-shuttered/ |access-date=2025-03-15}} He asked employees to report those who would hide programs "by using coded or imprecise language".{{Cite news |last=Archie |first=Ayana |date=2025-01-22 |title=Trump administration puts federal diversity, equity and inclusion staff on leave |url=https://www.npr.org/2025/01/22/nx-s1-5270081/trump-executive-orders-dei |access-date=2025-03-15 |publisher=NPR}} On January 27, a memo was sent instructing OPM employees to work on-site full-time.{{Cite web |last=Friedman |first=Drew |date=2025-01-30 |title=OPM's return-to-office plans include relocating some remote workers |url=https://federalnewsnetwork.com/workforce/2025/01/opms-return-to-office-plans-include-relocating-some-remote-workers/ |access-date=2025-03-15}} Investigative journalist Molly White found that metadata on some of these memos indicated that they were ghostwritten by Noah Peters and Thomas Shenk, both with Project 2025 ties; Peters is also a DOGE member.{{Cite web |date=2025-01-27 |title=Trump's Project 2025 ghostwriters |url=https://www.citationneeded.news/trumps-project-2025-ghostwriters/ |access-date=2025-03-15 |work=Citation Needed}}

Ezell sent a memo to federal agencies on the first day of Trump's second term reminding them that they can bypass the Merit System Protection Board rights when terminating new hires. He then gave them the work week to send Amanda Scales a list of all probationary employees.{{Cite web |last=Friedman |first=Drew |date=2025-01-21 |title=Trump administration asks agencies for lists of newly hired federal employees |url=https://federalnewsnetwork.com/workforce/2025/01/trump-administration-asks-agencies-for-lists-of-newly-hired-federal-employees/ |access-date=2025-03-15}} On February 13 2025, OPM advised agencies to terminate most of an estimated 200,000 probationary workers.{{Cite web |last=Friedman |first=Drew |date=2025-02-04 |title=What are the rules for probationary periods and federal employees? |url=https://federalnewsnetwork.com/workforce-rightsgovernance/2025/02/what-are-the-rules-for-probationary-periods-and-federal-employees/ |access-date=2025-04-22 |website=Federal News Network}}{{Cite news |author=Tami Luhby |author2=Rene Marsh |author3=Matt Egan |author4=Sean Lyngaas |date=2025-02-14 |title=Thousands of probationary employees fired as Trump administration directs agencies to carry out widespread layoffs |url=https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/14/politics/probationary-federal-employees-agencies-firings-doge/index.html |access-date=2025-04-21 |publisher=CNN}}{{Cite web |date=2025-03-18 |title=DOGE Layoffs: 5 Legal Options for Federal Employees Right Now |url=https://www.fedelaw.com/doge-layoffs/ |access-date=2025-03-19 |website=fedelaw.com |language=en-US}} Following the guidance, layoffs cascaded across HHS,{{Cite web |date=2025-02-14 |title=HHS is losing thousands of workers under Trump administration probationary job cuts |url=https://apnews.com/article/trump-job-cuts-health-cdc-0d002fd6f528a7b91ced79628bf68196 |access-date=2025-04-21 |work=AP News}} the Federal Aviation Administration,{{Cite news |last=Copp |first=Tara |date=February 17, 2025 |title=Trump begins firings of FAA air traffic control employees weeks after fatal DC plane crash |url=https://apnews.com/article/doge-faa-air-traffic-firings-safety-67981aec33b6ee72cbad8dcee31f3437 |access-date=2025-02-19 |agency=Associated Press}} and the National Nuclear Security Administration.{{Cite news |last=Drenon |first=Brandon |date=February 16, 2025 |title=US government tries to rehire nuclear staff it fired days ago |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g3nrx1dq5o |publisher=BBC}}

{{see also|2025 US federal deferred resignation program}}

DOGE used OPM systems to create the hr@opm.gov address and email all federal employees.{{Cite web |last=Beitsch |first=Rebecca |date=2025-03-10 |title=OPM inspector general investigating DOGE emails, access to agency data |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5186084-opm-oig-investigates-email-system-doge/ |access-date=2025-03-15 |work=The Hill |format=Text |quote="The OPM was one of the first agencies accessed by DOGE, where those connected to Musk tapped into OPM systems, created the hr@opm.gov email address, and began contacting federal workers ahead of the government buyout program. The same email has since been used to demand federal workers send a list of five accomplishments to recap their week."}} On January{{nbsp}}28, OPM introduced the 2025 US federal deferred resignation program, in which federal employees who resigned by February{{nbsp}}6 would receive salary and benefits until September{{nbsp}}30.{{cite news |last1=Bogardus |first1=Kevin |date=January 28, 2025 |title=Trump offers federal workers a chance to resign if they don't want to return to the office |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2025/01/28/trump-offers-buyouts-for-federal-workers-00201106 |access-date=January 31, 2025 |work=Politico}} The program was introduced in an email with the same subject line, "Fork in the road" which Musk used shortly after taking over Twitter.{{Cite web |last=Stokols |first=Eli |date=January 30, 2025 |title=Federal workers reeling over Trump's 'buyout' offer: 'This is the last lifeboat in town' |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2025/01/30/federal-workers-buyout-offer-00201349 |website=Politico}}{{Cite magazine |last=Schiffer |first=Zoë |date=2025-01-28 |title=Elon Musk Is Running the Twitter Playbook on the Federal Government |url=https://www.wired.com/story/elon-musk-twitter-playbook-federal-government/ |access-date=2025-02-17 |magazine=Wired}}{{Cite web |title=Original Email to Employees |url=https://www.opm.gov/fork/original-email-to-employees/ |access-date=2025-03-24 |work=U.S. Office of Personnel Management}} By the deadline, roughly 75,000 employees had taken the offer.{{Cite news |last=Hsu |first=Andrea |date=2025-02-14 |title=A federal worker tried to take Trump's 'Fork' resignation offer. Here's what happened |url=https://www.npr.org/2025/02/14/nx-s1-5296910/trump-federal-workers-fork-resign-buyout |access-date=2025-03-24 |publisher=NPR}} A PDF version of the offer added that workers who accept the buyout offer need to waive their right to legal action.{{Cite web |title=Federal workers who accept buyout must waive their right to legal action, contract says |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/federal-workers-accept-buyout-waive-legal-action-contract/story?id=118439640 |access-date=2025-04-13 |work=ABC News}}

On February 22, Musk posted on X ordering federal workers to summarize their weekly accomplishments, warning that noncompliance would be seen as resignation.{{Cite news |last1=Conger |first1=Kate |last2=Sullivan |first2=Eileen |last3=Jewett |first3=Christina |date=February 23, 2025 |title=Musk Says Government Workers Must Detail Their Workweek or Lose Their Jobs |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/22/us/politics/elon-musk-email-federal-employees.html |work=The New York Times}}{{cite news |last1=Luhby |first1=Tami |last2=Marsh |first2=Rene |last3=Nilsen |first3=Ella |last4=Serfaty |first4=Sunlen |date=25 February 2025 |title='It's bedlam': Federal workers left in limbo as clock ticks down to Musk's email deadline |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2025/02/24/politics/email-elon-musk-federal-employees/index.html |access-date=25 February 2025 |publisher=CNN}} Shortly after, OPM emailed employees requesting five bullet point summaries. The Department of Defense ordered staff and the United States Armed Forces to ignore Musk's request;{{Cite web |last1=Wehner |first1=Greg |last2=Griffin |first2=Jennifer |date=2025-02-24 |title=DOD tells civilian workforce to ignore Elon Musk's request to report productivity |url=https://www.foxnews.com/politics/dod-tells-civilian-workforce-ignore-elon-musks-request-report-productivity |access-date=2025-02-23 |publisher=Fox News}} the FBI and State Department told their employees not to respond;{{Cite news |last=O'Connell |first=Oliver |date=February 23, 2025 |title=Kash Patel tells FBI staff to ignore Elon Musk's productivity email as signs of power struggles emerge in D.C.: reports |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/musk-doge-email-federal-workers-b2703006.html |work=Independent}} NASA employees were advised to delay their response;{{Cite web |last=Foust |first=Jeff |date=2025-02-24 |title=NASA employees advised to delay responses to 'what did you do' email |url=https://spacenews.com/nasa-employees-advised-to-delay-responses-to-what-did-you-do-email/ |access-date=2025-02-24 |work=SpaceNews}} HHS explicitly warned employees not to participate in the email request, due to the fact that replies might be "read by malign foreign actors."{{Cite web |last1=Smith |first1=Allen |date=2025-02-24 |title=HHS warns employees that responses to Elon Musk's request may 'be read by malign foreign actors' |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/doge/hhs-warns-responses-elon-musks-email-may-read-malign-foreign-actors-rcna193553 |access-date=2025-02-23 |publisher=NBC News}} Two days later, OPM stated that responding to the initial email was voluntary; however, Musk tweeted that if employees still refused to respond, it would "result in termination".{{Cite web |last=Mangan |first=Dan |date=2025-02-24 |title=Musk doubles down on threat to federal workers: File list of accomplishments or get fired |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2025/02/24/elon-musk-lawsuit-federal-works-opm-resign-list.html |access-date=2025-02-25 |publisher=CNBC |language=en}}

A second "Fork on the road" buyout offer has been sent to Peace Corps employees.{{Cite news| issn = 0261-3077| last = Kerr| first = Dara| title = Peace Corps to undergo 'significant' cuts after Doge review| work = The Guardian| access-date = 2025-04-29| date = 2025-04-29| url = https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/28/peace-corps-doge-elon-musk}}

{{main|2025 United States federal mass layoffs}}

On January 31, Brian Bjelde, senior advisor and DOGE member, told career supervisors that the target was to cut 70% of OPM workforce. GSA acting administrator and DOGE member Stephen Ehikian warned two weeks later that he would apply Reduction In Force (RIF) measures to the agency.{{Cite web |date=2025-02-25 |title=GSA takes 'sledgehammer' to workforce with planned layoffs |url=https://www.nextgov.com/people/2025/02/gsa-takes-sledgehammer-workforce-planned-layoffs/403250/ |access-date=2025-03-20 |work=Nextgov.com}} On March 7, DOGE deployed its proprietary AI chatbot, intended to help workers with daily tasks, to 1,500 workers at GSA.{{Cite web |last=Dellinger |first=AJ |date=8 March 2025 |title=DOGE Is Replacing Fired Workers With a Chatbot |url=https://gizmodo.com/doge-is-replacing-fired-workers-with-a-chatbot-2000573510 |access-date=2025-03-19 |website=Gizmodo}} The deployment came after Thomas Shedd fired around 90 technologists and announced that the GSA branch he supervises would shrink by 50 percent.{{Cite magazine |last=Kelly |first=Makena |title=DOGE Has Deployed Its GSAi Custom Chatbot for 1,500 Federal Workers |url=https://www.wired.com/story/gsai-chatbot-1500-federal-workers/ |access-date=2025-03-10 |magazine=Wired |issn=1059-1028}} Among them was the 18F team, which Shedd deemed "non-essential".{{Cite web |date=2025-03-03 |title=18F shutters, leaving agencies without a key partner in digital transformation; GSA tells agencies to terminate contracts with top-10 consulting firms |url=https://fedscoop.com/radio/general-services-administration-eliminated-the-18f-program/ |access-date=2025-03-14 |work=FedScoop}}

Riccardo Biasini has been{{when|date=May 2025}} modifying autorif in OPM's code repository, a program presumably{{by whom?|date=May 2025}} intended to automatize the Reduction in Force (RIF) process.{{Cite magazine |last=Kelly |first=Makena |title=DOGE Is Working on Software That Automates the Firing of Government Workers |url=https://www.wired.com/story/doge-autorif-mass-firing-government-workers/ |access-date=2025-03-21 |magazine=Wired |issn=1059-1028}}

On February 1, members of DOGE gained access to some of USAID's classified information.{{cite news |last=Knickmeyer |first=Ellen |date=February 2, 2025 |title=USAID security leaders on leave after trying to keep Musk's DOGE from classified info, officials say |url=https://apnews.com/article/doge-musk-trump-classified-information-usaid-security-35101dee28a766e0d9705e0d47958611 |access-date=February 2, 2025 |agency=Associated Press}}{{cite news |last1=Hansler |first1=Jennifer |last2=Marquardt |first2=Alex |date=February 2, 2025 |title=Senior USAID security officials put on leave after refusing Musk's DOGE access to agency systems |url=https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/02/politics/usaid-officials-leave-musk-doge/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250203035650/https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/02/politics/usaid-officials-leave-musk-doge/index.html |archive-date=February 3, 2025 |access-date=February 2, 2025 |publisher=CNN}} Two security chiefs at USAID attempted to deny DOGE members access to the classified material because they did not meet the requirements to access it; however, the security chiefs were then placed on leave. On February 24, the Washington Post reported that Luke Farritor and Gavin Kliger manually blocked multiple times payments for life critical programs that Secretary of State Marco Rubio had approved by decree.{{Cite news |author=Bai |first=Matt |date=2025-02-24 |title=The blinding contempt of the DOGE bros |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/02/24/musk-doge-usaid-cuts-dc/ |access-date=2025-03-02 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}{{Cite news| issn = 1091-2339| last = Mathis-Lilley| first = Ben| title = I Think It's Bad That Nazi-Adjacent Youths Might Be Overruling the President and Secretary of State| work = Slate| access-date = 2025-03-02| date = 2025-02-26| url = https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2025/02/doge-elon-musk-donald-trump-marco-rubio.html}}{{Cite web| title = Emergency Humanitarian Waiver to Foreign Assistance Pause| work = United States Department of State| access-date = 2025-03-02| url = https://www.state.gov/emergency-humanitarian-waiver-to-foreign-assistance-pause-2/}} On March 18, DOGE member Jeremy Lewin was appointed as a deputy administrator in USAID;{{Cite web |date=2025-03-19 |title=DOGE official is taking a leadership role at USAID, an email obtained by AP says |url=https://apnews.com/article/usaid-doge-musk-trump-state-department-b04f4fe0d9c9c0475d337282ec69b3a0 |access-date=2025-03-19 |website=AP News |language=en}} Lewin wrote a memo on March 28 to discontinue USAID's mission, after a judge explicitly ordered that he and DOGE should be barred from making further cuts at the agency.{{Cite magazine |title=Elon Musk's New USAID Stooge Once Threatened to Gut a Girl |url=https://newrepublic.com/post/193429/elon-musk-usaid-head-disturbing-history |access-date=2025-04-02 |magazine=The New Republic |issn=0028-6583}}{{Cite web |last1=Cook |first1=Sara |last2=Schick |first2=Camilla |last3=Kates |first3=Graham |date=2025-03-28 |title=Trump administration takes steps to formally shutter USAID |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-administration-takes-steps-formally-shutter-usaid-doge/ |access-date=2025-04-02 |publisher=CBS News}}

On February 6, CFPB staff were told by email that DOGE members (including Nikhil Rajpal, Gavin Kliger, and Chris Young) entered the agency building and would require access to CFPB data, systems, and equipment.{{Cite magazine |last=Kelly |first=Makena |title=DOGE Is Now Inside the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau |url=https://www.wired.com/story/doge-access-consumer-financial-protection-bureau-data/ |access-date=2025-03-15 |magazine=Wired |issn=1059-1028}} The next evening, Russ Vought became acting head of the bureau.{{Cite web |last=Egan |first=Matt |date=2025-02-08 |title=OMB head Russell Vought takes over as CFPB as acting head, DOGE team deletes X account |url=https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/08/business/cfpb-doge-vought-x/index.html |access-date=2025-03-15 |publisher=CNN}} He ordered all work be stopped and the Washington DC office to be closed.{{cite news |last1=Gillison |first1=Douglas |title=Consumer protection agency neutralized by Trump's new chief |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trumps-acting-cfpb-chief-halts-all-supervision-companies-2025-02-09/ |access-date=10 February 2025 |work=Reuters |date=10 February 2025}}{{cite web|first1=Stacy|last1=Cowley|first2=Matthew|last2=Goldstein|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/11/us/politics/trump-financial-regulators-jonathan-mckernan-gould.html?searchResultPosition=2|title=Trump Names 2 New Top Financial Regulators|website=The New York Times|date=February 11, 2025}} A mass firing in mid April attempted to reduce the bureau's headcount by approximately 86%, but it has been halted in court.{{cite web |last1=Willis |first1=Chris |last2=Jackman |first2=Stefanie |last3=Kim |first3=James |last4=Silverman |first4=Jesse |last5=Sommerfield |first5=Lori |title=CFPB Implements Mass Layoffs: Union Files Emergency Motion to Show Cause |url=https://www.consumerfinancialserviceslawmonitor.com/2025/04/cfpb-implements-mass-layoffs-union-files-emergency-motion-to-show-cause/ |website=Consumer Financial Services Law Monitor |access-date=7 May 2025 |date=18 April 2025}}{{cite web |last1=Willis |first1=Chris |last2=Jackman |first2=Stefanie |last3=Kim |first3=James |last4=Silverman |first4=Jesse |last5=Sommerfield |first5=Lori |title=Appeals Court Blocks CFPB Layoffs Pending Further Review |url=https://www.consumerfinancialserviceslawmonitor.com/2025/04/appeals-court-blocks-cfpb-layoffs-pending-further-review/ |website=Consumer Financial Services Law Monitor |access-date=7 May 2025 |date=29 April 2025}} Kliger conducted the mass layoffs, which included the ethics lawyers who warned him against holding $715,000 from companies in conflict with CFPB.{{Cite web| last = Pearson| first = Jake| title = DOGE Aide Who Helped Gut CFPB Was Warned About Potential Conflicts of Interest| work = ProPublica| access-date = 2025-05-08| date = 2025-05-07| url = https://www.propublica.org/article/cfpb-gavin-kliger-doge-conflict-of-interest-consumer-financial-protection-bureau}}

DOGE entered the Department of Education in early February{{Cite news |last=Chao-Fong |first=Léonie |date=2025-02-03 |title=Trump advisers weigh actions to dismantle education department – report |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/03/trump-education-department |access-date=2025-03-19 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}} and accessed internal databases with student information.{{Cite web |last=Schermele |first=Schermele |date=11 Feb 2025 |title=DOGE slashes millions from Education Department research |url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/doge-slashes-education-department-research-canceling-900m-in-contracts/ar-AA1yPKyj |access-date=19 Mar 2025 |publisher=MSN}} Its team used AI to investigate the department's sensitive financial data.{{Cite news |date=2025-02-14 |title=Elon Musk's DOGE feeds AI sensitive federal data to target cuts - The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/02/06/elon-musk-doge-ai-department-education/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250214074201/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/02/06/elon-musk-doge-ai-department-education/ |archive-date=February 14, 2025 |access-date=2025-03-17 |newspaper=The Washington Post}} It then announced that $900 million worth of contracts were cut. These contracts were mostly from the Institute of Education Sciences which is responsible for researching education outcomes in public schools.{{Cite news |author=Jodi S. Cohen |author2=Jennifer Smith Richards |date=2025-02-11 |title=Elon Musk's Team Decimates Education Department Arm That Tracks National School Performance |url=https://www.propublica.org/article/department-of-education-institute-education-science-contracts-doge |access-date=2025-03-17 |work=ProPublica}} According to anonymous sources in the education department, DOGE members pushed high ranking Department of Education officials out of their own offices and set up white noise machines to muffle their conversations. DODGE's demands were seen as arbitrary such as cutting 80% of the funding for the web infrastructure supporting student loan applications.{{Cite web |last1=Nova |first1=Annie |date=2025-02-12 |title=How Elon Musk's DOGE took over the Education Department, one office at a time |url=https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/business/money-report/how-elon-musks-doge-took-over-the-education-department-one-office-at-a-time/6147477/ |access-date=2025-03-16 |work=NBC New York}} On February 12, mass firings began; Linda McMahon, wrestling mogul turned secretary of education, said she would like the Department of Education "to be closed immediately" because it "is a big con job".{{Cite web |last1=Navarro |first1=Aaron |last2=Watson |first2=Kathryn |date=2025-02-13 |title=Federal employee layoffs begin at Education Department as DOGE tries to shrink government - CBS News |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/federal-employee-layoffs-begin-at-department-of-education/ |access-date=2025-03-17 |publisher=CBS News}} By March 11, almost half of the Department of Education workforce had been fired.{{Cite web |date=March 12, 2025 |title=Department of Education lays off nearly 50% of its workforce |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/department-education-faces-50-layoffs-after-closure-notice/story?id=119690524 |access-date=2025-03-17 |work=ABC News}}

On March 17, Inter-Con Security allowed DOGE to enter the Institute for Peace (USIP); Inter-Con vice president Derrick Hanna informed USIP that DOGE had contacted them and "threatened all of their federal contracts if they did not permit entry for DOGE".{{Cite web |last=Johansen |first=Ben |date=2025-03-19 |title=DOGE enters Institute of Peace amid staff resistance |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/19/doge-institute-peace-staff-resistance-00238488 |access-date=2025-03-20 |work=Politico}} USIP has filed a lawsuit against DOGE, claiming that they "have plundered the offices in an effort to access and gain control of the Institute's infrastructure, including sensitive computer systems"; the filing showed photos of financial documents placed in a bin labeled "shred", and an USIP logo ripped down from the wall.{{Cite web |last=Beitsch |first=Rebecca |date=2025-03-19 |title=US Institute of Peace files lawsuit to block DOGE cuts |url=https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/5202800-us-institute-for-peace-lawsuit-doge-takeover/ |access-date=2025-03-22 |work=The Hill |format=Text}} Court documents filed on March 31 revealed that Nate Cavanaugh, a DOGE member who acts as the Institute of Peace (USIP) surrogate president, was instructed to transfer USIP's assets—including its real estate—to the GSA. In a letter to Stephen Ehikian of the GSA, Cavanaugh sought an exemption from having to reimburse the value of the building, estimated at $500 million, which would entail the GSA receiving the building for free.{{Cite magazine |last=Barrett |first=Brian |title=DOGE Is Trying to Gift Itself a $500 Million Building, Court Filings Show |url=https://www.wired.com/story/doge-takes-control-usip-office-building/ |access-date=2025-04-01 |magazine=Wired |issn=1059-1028 |quote="To state this plainly: DOGE forced out the directors and staff of a nonexecutive agency, installed one of its own GSA staffers as president, and that person is now attempting to hand the institute's $500 million headquarters over to the agency he came from, at zero cost."}}

On February 26, Trump issued an executive order that includes the immediate disposal of surplus federal property and reduce non-essential travel; the first agencies to be targeted were international organizations and educational institutions.{{Cite web |last=Beavins |first=Emma |date=2025-02-27 |title=DOGE cost efficiency initiative to cull fed grants and contracts |url=https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/regulatory/trump-implements-doge-cost-efficiency-initiative-cull-fed-grants-and-contracts-non |access-date=2025-02-28}}

On March 4, the GSA published a list of 443 properties to be sold, including headquarters, courthouses, and 47 SSA offices .{{cite news |last1=Wiener |first1=Aaron |last2=Natanson |first2=Hannah |last3=O'Connell |first3=Jonathan |date=March 5, 2025 |title=How 443 federal properties were targeted for sale, then suddenly weren't |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2025/03/05/federal-buildings-sale-trump-gsa-chaos/ |newspaper=The Washington Post}}{{Cite web |last=Irwin |first=Lauren |date=2025-03-19 |title=Here are the Social Security offices expected to close this year |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5203770-social-security-administration-office-closures/ |access-date=2025-03-20 |work=The Hill |format=Text}} That list was edited the same day to remove about 120 properties and then taken off the GSA website the next day.{{cite web |last=Fields |first=Ashleigh |date=March 5, 2025 |title=GSA takes down list of properties it might sell |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5177750-gsa-removes-property-list/ |work=The Hill}} The public list included a previously undisclosed "highly sensitive federal complex in Springfield, Virginia" where the CIA conducts clandestine operations.{{cite web |last1=Mehrotra |first1=Dhruv |last2=Marchman |first2=Tim |last3=Feiger |first3=Leah |last4=Couts |first4=Andrew |date=March 6, 2025 |title=A Sensitive Complex Housing a CIA Facility Was on GSA's List of US Properties for Sale |url=https://www.wired.com/story/gsa-sale-cia-facility/ |work=Wired}}

At the Department of the Treasury (USDT), DOGE member Sam Corcos will lead the creation of an Application Programming Interface (API) for IRS data, using Foundry, a platform developed by Palantir.{{Cite magazine |last=Kelly |first=Makena |title=Palantir Is Helping DOGE With a Massive IRS Data Project |url=https://www.wired.com/story/palantir-doge-irs-mega-api-data/ |access-date=2025-04-14 |magazine=Wired |issn=1059-1028}} Earlier, Wired revealed that two DOGE members, Corcos and Gavin Kliger, were planning to run a hackathon with the goal of creating an API to interconnect all IRS databases.{{Cite magazine |last=Kelly |first=Makena |title=DOGE Is Planning a Hackathon at the IRS. It Wants Easier Access to Taxpayer Data |url=https://www.wired.com/story/doge-hackathon-irs-data-palantir/ |access-date=2025-04-16 |magazine=Wired |issn=1059-1028}}

In March, DOGE installed a Starlink user terminal at the White House complex, raising conflict of interest concerns due to Starlink being a subsidiary of Musk-owned SpaceX. In response the White House said that the terminal was donated by Starlink and approved by legal counsel and the United States Secret Service.{{cite web |last1=Pengelly |first1=Martin |date=March 18, 2025 |title=Elon Musk's Starlink internet service installed in White House |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/18/musk-starlink-internet-white-house |access-date=19 March 2025 |website=The Guardian}}{{cite web |last1=Mac |first1=Ryan |last2=Sullivan |first2=Eileen |last3=Haberman |first3=Maggie |last4=Conger |first4=Kate |date=March 18, 2025 |title=Elon Musk's Starlink Expands Across White House Complex |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/17/us/politics/elon-musk-starlink-white-house.html |access-date=19 March 2025 |website=The New York Times}} GSA subscribed to Starlink for its Washington offices in mid-February.{{Cite web |date=2025-03-08 |title=Elon Musk's Starlink has a growing footprint in the federal government |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/elon-musk/elon-musk-starlink-growing-footprint-federal-government-rcna195400 |access-date=2025-03-19 |publisher=NBC News}} There are two transceivers on the roof of its DC headquarters.{{Cite web |date=2025-04-17 |title=Elon Musk installed his top lieutenants at a federal agency you probably haven't heard of |url=https://apnews.com/article/doge-musk-trump-ai-starlink-gsa-efficiency-d67a41d1be98db11f05ca8e4472f53bd |access-date=2025-04-23 |work=AP News}}

DOGE has put a $1 spending limit on the SmartPay cards of GSA, OPM, CFPB, and USAID employees, with plans to extend the limits to other agencies.{{update inline|reason=reads like they are still in place and still planning, are they?|date=May 2025}} On April 17, ProPublica reported multiple meetings between GSA and Ramp{{clarify|reason=what is Ramp?|date=May 2025}} to outsource the SmartPay credit card program; Ramp's backers include Peter Thiel and Jared Kushner.{{Cite news |author=Christopher Bing |author2=Avi Asher-Schapiro |date=2025-04-17 |title=Trump Team Eyes Politically Connected Startup to Overhaul $700 Billion Government Payments Program |url=https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-peter-thiel-ramp-gsa-smartpay-expense-payment-system |access-date=2025-04-17 |work=ProPublica}}

DeJoy signed an agreement with DOGE in March to identify further areas to improve efficiency.{{Cite web |date=2025-03-13 |title=U.S. Postal Service strikes deal with Elon Musk's DOGE team for reform help |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2025/03/13/usps-signs-agreement-with-elon-musks-doge-team-for-assistance.html |access-date=2025-04-17 |publisher=CNBC}}

The United States Postal Service (USPS) lost $9.5 billion in 2024. Louis DeJoy, the Postmaster General stated that the losses stemmed from employee compensation, mismanagement of retirement programs, and costly regulatory burdens some of which come without funding. DeJoy was appointed during the first Trump administration and prevailed in reducing the projected loss from running USPS from $160 billion to $80 billion over the coming decade. He has relied on workforce reduction and contract shrinkage to drive these savings. DeJoy additionally blames the Postal Regulatory Commission for USPS's financial state. However their spokesperson returned the blame to DeJoy and stated he is "making USPS less efficient, and collapsing service, especially for rural Americans."{{clarify| reason=why is this long exposition necessary, again?|date=May 2025}}

During a Morgan Stanley conference, Musk said that "we should privatize anything that can reasonably be privatized", naming USPS and Amtrak as examples.{{Cite news |last=Shepardson |first=David |date=2025-03-06 |title=Elon Musk says Post Office, Amtrak should be privatized |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/elon-musk-says-post-office-amtrak-should-be-privatized-2025-03-05/ |access-date=2025-04-09 |work=Reuters}}

During a private meeting, DOGE member and SSA acting commissioner Leland Dudek proposed to outsource Social Security customer service. Experts have warned that the SSA is on a path of privatization.{{Cite web |last=Malito |first=Alessandra |date=2025-03-23 |title=Social Security is on the path to privatization, experts say, led by Musk's DOGE |url=https://www.marketwatch.com/story/social-security-is-on-the-path-to-privatization-experts-warn-led-by-musks-doge-81b934cc |access-date=2025-04-17 |work=MarketWatch}}

Facing difficulties processing federal retirement applications and reductions in force while laying off personnel, OPM has awarded a one-year contract to Workday, Inc.{{Cite web| last = Friedman| first = Drew| title = OPM quietly awards large HR management contract to Workday| access-date = 2025-05-08| date = 2025-05-07| url = https://federalnewsnetwork.com/contracting/2025/05/opm-quietly-awards-large-hr-management-contract-to-workday/}}

On February 17, 2025, DOGE released the names of 1,127 federal contracts spanning 39 federal departments and agencies that they said had been terminated.{{cite web |last1=Kim |first1=Soo Rin |last2=Steakin |first2=Will |title=DOGE claims $55 billion in government cuts so far – but the figure is hard to verify |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/doge-claims-55-billion-government-cuts-figure-hard/story?id=118966190 |access-date=22 February 2025 |publisher=ABC News}} Only 300 of these have been formally terminated.{{Cite web |last=Siken |first=Justin |date=February 19, 2025 |title=List of All Contracts Terminated by DOGE |url=https://www.highergov.com/news/list-of-all-contracts-terminated-by-doge-6287413/ |access-date=2025-02-21 |website=highergov.com}}

Some of DOGE's reported savings were inaccurate due to counting contracts multiple times, listing contracts that have already been paid as savings, and misrepresenting potential savings based on contract limits rather than actual spending.{{cite news |last1=Caitlin |first1=Ostroff |last2=Shifflett |first2=Shane |last3=Benedict |first3=James |date=22 February 2025 |title=DOGE Claims It Has Saved Billions. See Where. |url=https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/elon-musk-doge-federal-savings-claims-783b9507 |access-date=26 February 2025 |work=The Wall Street Journal}} On February 24, 2025, DOGE released more documents, with the total nearing 2,300 contracts released. About 40% of named contract terminations would not save the government any money.

Terminated contracts and leases announced by DOGE in February 2025 include:

• A $168,707 contract for an exhibit on Anthony Fauci at the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) Museum.{{cite web |date=7 February 2025 |title=In the past 48 hours, HHS canceled 62 contract worth $182 million. These contracts were entirely for administrative expenses – none touched any healthcare programs. This included terminating a $168,000 contract for an Anthony Fauci exhibit at the NIH Museum. |url=https://x.com/DOGE/status/1887972340446683576 |access-date=13 February 2025 |website=𝕏 (Formerly Twitter) |publisher=Department of Government Efficiency |format=Post on 𝕏}}{{cite web |last1=Goldsberry |first1=Jenny |date=2025-02-10 |title=DOGE terminates plans for a museum exhibit dedicated to Anthony Fauci |url=https://gazette.com/news/wex/doge-terminates-plans-for-a-museum-exhibit-dedicated-to-anthony-fauci/article_41eea2be-242b-561b-949e-2975fbf558ff.html |access-date=13 February 2025 |work=Colorado Springs Gazette}}{{cite web |last1=Lee |first1=Michael |date=9 February 2025 |title=DOGE cancels funding for Fauci museum exhibit |url=https://www.foxnews.com/politics/doge-cancels-funding-fauci-museum-exhibit |access-date=13 February 2025 |publisher=Fox News}} This contract has already been paid in full.
• A $405,986 contract by the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for "resilience, energy, and sustainability management program support services".{{cite web |date=12 February 2025 |title=Today's contract update: 58 cancellations with savings of >$150M in categories including Media, DEI, and Consulting. This includes $405K at DHS for "resilience, energy, and sustainability management program support services" and ~4M at DoT for "DEIA program and project management support services". |url=https://x.com/DOGE/status/1889838663833645309 |access-date=13 February 2025 |website=𝕏 (Formerly Twitter) |publisher=Department of Government Efficiency |format=Post on 𝕏}}{{cite web |last1=Pritchett |first1=Elizabeth |date=2025-02-13 |title=DOGE boasts dozens of contract cancellations on Wednesday, totaling over $150M in savings |url=https://www.yahoo.com/news/doge-boasts-dozens-contract-cancellations-105038050.html?guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAF0FDnJbbhw7sBEPPLNyVvZGuLv4Vs0-RZZUwGdw0JYkVWgMTF1m3aNFtWyAcLK6VzjDPzG5D7U_o-80AhrJTzbM6tLUynKE-YeXFvSKNzs2tKNOFd_KZ9lGd-3CKveMR-n6nS8zJH665bFbfFJv3tZwJjzQs_tYRx4xpwRNxB9s |access-date=13 February 2025 |publisher=Yahoo News}}
• Three $15 million contracts by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) totalling $45 million.{{cite web |date=12 February 2025 |title=EPA also cancelled 3 DEI contracts, saving American taxpayers $45M |url=https://x.com/DOGE/status/1889857378520363493 |access-date=13 February 2025 |website=𝕏 (Formerly Twitter) |publisher=Department of Government Efficiency |format=Post on 𝕏}}{{cite web |last1=Bogardus |first1=Kevin |last2=Richards |first2=Heather |last3=Northey |first3=Hannah |last4=Streater |first4=Scott |date=13 February 2025 |title='This feels like a coup': Feds brace for layoffs |url=https://www.eenews.net/articles/this-feels-like-a-coup-feds-brace-for-layoffs/ |access-date=13 February 2025 |work=Politico}}
• A $2.23 million contract by the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for "Equity Assessments of Existing Program Policies".{{cite web |date=13 February 2025 |title=Today's contract update: 167 cancellations with savings of ~$115M, including a $2.23M contract for HHS for "equity assessments of existing program policies". |url=https://x.com/DOGE/status/1890258919521677614 |access-date=14 February 2025 |website=𝕏 (Formerly Twitter) |publisher=Department of Government Efficiency |format=Post on 𝕏}}{{cite web |last1=Sevencan |first1=Seda |date=14 February 2025 |title=Musk's efficiency department cancels 167 contracts, saving $115M |url=https://www.usmuslims.com/musks-efficiency-department-cancels-167-contracts-saving-115m-285791h.htm |access-date=14 February 2025 |publisher=USMuslims.com |location=Istanbul, Turkey}}
• A $8.2 million contract by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for "environmental compliance services for the implementation of pilot projects developed under the partnership for climate smart commodities".{{cite web |date=14 February 2025 |title=Roses are red, violets are blue, Today, DOGE and 10 agencies made 586 wasteful contracts bid adieu! Today's batch includes a $8.2M USDA contract for "environmental compliance services for the implementation of pilot projects developed under the partnership for climate smart commodities". |url=https://x.com/DOGE/status/1890593889314038216 |access-date=16 February 2025 |website=𝕏 (Formerly Twitter) |publisher=Department of Government Efficiency |format=Post on 𝕏}}{{cite web |last1=Ariemu |first1=Ogaga |date=15 February 2025 |title=Trump: Elon Musk-led DOGE terminates 568 wasteful contracts worth $2.1 billion |url=https://dailypost.ng/2025/02/15/trump-elon-musk-led-doge-terminates-568-wasteful-contracts-worth-2-1-billion/ |access-date=16 February 2025 |work=Daily Post |location=Nigeria}}
• An $8 million contract between the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and D&G Support Services, LLC for "Equal Employment Opportunity". DOGE originally and falsely claimed this contract saved $8 billion, which was subsequently corrected down to $8 million.
• A lease for the "Allowance to Former Presidents Office" located in Atlanta, Georgia. DOGE announced the lease's annual cost was $128,233 and by terminating it, they saved $544,991. The lease was for an office for the Carter Center, a nongovernmental, nonprofit organization founded in 1982 by former U.S. president Jimmy Carter.{{Cite web |last=Murray |first=Conor |date=February 19, 2025 |title=The Biggest Hoaxes Spread By Elon Musk And DOGE, Debunked |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/conormurray/2025/02/19/here-are-the-biggest-doge-hoaxes-and-inaccuracies-as-8-million-canceled-ice-contract-listed-at-8-billion/ |access-date=2025-02-22 |website=Forbes}}
• A lease for the Risk Management Agency (RMA), a branch of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), located in Topeka, Kansas. DOGE announced the lease's annual cost was $121,818 and by terminating it, they saved $964,396. The Topeka Capital-Journal interviewed a building owner who said that "since the pandemic, they had nobody in the office for the last three years. Not one person," and that "it's a clear example of the government waste that's going on."{{cite web |last1=Alatidd |first1=Jason |last2=Saldanha-Olson |first2=Stacey |date=24 February 2024 |title=DOGE cancels Topeka lease for empty USDA office that was 'a huge waste of money' |url=https://www.cjonline.com/story/news/politics/government/2025/02/24/tremendous-government-waste-doge-cancels-usda-lease-in-topeka/79430741007/ |website=The Topeka Capital-Journal }}

On April 4, the DOGE account on X posted about saving a little over $1M by replacing magnetic tapes with digital backups; the community noted the archival and security risks of doing so.{{Cite web |last=Maxwell |first=Thomas |date=2025-04-08 |title=DOGE Replacing Magnetic Tape Archives With Digital Is a Dangerous Move, Critics Say |url=https://gizmodo.com/doge-replacing-magnetic-tape-archives-with-digital-is-a-dangerous-move-critics-say-2000586634 |access-date=2025-04-10 |work=Gizmodo |quote="While the move may at first seem like a logical decision to modernize government services, critics were quick to point out the benefits of magnetic tapes over digital. The post by DOGE features a Community Note highlighting a few reasons to use magnetic tape, including the fact that they can store data much more efficiently and offer a physical "airgap" so that data cannot be stolen by cybercriminals."}} Experts questioned the savings, as no analysis of cost and benefit had been presented,{{Cite web |last=Stokel-Walker |first=Chris |date=2025-04-09 |title=DOGE is ditching this analog file storage system. That could spell bad news for data integrity |url=https://www.fastcompany.com/91313270/doge-is-ditching-magnetic-tapes-but-at-what-cost-to-data-integrity |access-date=2025-04-10 |work=Fast Company |quote="Typically in my experience [...] you do this kind of decision based on a cost-benefit analysis, which I'm not seeing," says Roberto Di Pietro, professor of computer science at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology. "The saving is $1 million, but what is the cost [of the overall project]?" [...] Tapes have a very long life. If you have SSDs, data decays much faster," Di Pietro says. "Every five years you need to move data [...] and that's a cost."}} and tape remains the cheapest medium to save data.{{Cite web |last=Coughlin |first=Thomas |title=How Will DOGE Save $1 Million Per Year By Converting From Magnetic Tape? |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomcoughlin/2025/04/07/how-will-doge-save-1m-per-year-by-converting-from-magnetic-tape/ |access-date=2025-04-10 |work=Forbes |quote="DOGE says they will save $1M per year at the US GSA by converting from magnetic tape to some other permanent storage. It is not clear how they will do this unless they are converting to more modern magnetic tape."}}

On April 11, 2025, DOGE contacted the independently-funded Vera Institute of Justice to discuss placing a DOGE team inside the organization; DOGE was subsequently informed that Vera no longer received federal funding after the earlier termination of their federal contracts by the Department of Justice.{{cite web |last1=Robins-Early |first1=Nick |date=April 16, 2025 |title=Doge tried to embed staffers in criminal justice non-profit, says group |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/16/doge-musk-vera-non-profit |access-date=April 30, 2025 |work=The Guardian}}

On March 17, DOGE entered the congressionally-created and funded United States Institute of Peace accompanied by police and installed a new president,{{Cite news |last=Kelemen |first=Michele |date=March 18, 2025 |title=DOGE staff entered the U.S. Institute of Peace with D.C. police help |url=https://www.npr.org/2025/03/18/nx-s1-5331354/doge-staff-enter-the-u-s-institute-of-peace-d-c-police-help |access-date=2025-05-01 |publisher=NPR |language=en}}{{Cite news |last=Associated Press |date=2025-03-19 |title=US Institute of Peace sues Trump administration to block Doge takeover |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/19/institute-peace-lawsuit-trump-doge |access-date=2025-05-01 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}} escorting out the previous president who had been fired by the Trump administration a week earlier.{{Cite news |last=Associated Press |date=2025-03-18 |title=Doge occupies US Institute of Peace headquarters after White House guts its board |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/17/us-institute-of-peace-doge |access-date=2025-05-01 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}

On April 17, DOGE members met with leaders of the National Gallery of Art (NGA) to discuss its tax exemption status.{{Cite news |date=2025-04-18 |title=DOGE Visits National Gallery of Art to Discuss Museum's Legal Status |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-04-18/washington-dc-national-gallery-of-art-gets-a-visit-from-doge |access-date=2025-04-22 |work=Bloomberg.com}}

Evidence from an April court case showed that DOGE member and former Tesla employee Tarak Makesha went above an advisory role by sending the Justice Department directives to terminate Acacia.{{Cite journal| last = Bower| first = Anna| title = On DOGE, Directives, and DOJ| journal = Lawfare| access-date = 2025-04-29| date = 2025-04-27| url = https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/on-doge--directives--and-doj}}

{{Main|Response to the Department of Government Efficiency}}

{{trim|{{#section-h:Response to the Department of Government Efficiency}}}}

{{Main|Lawsuits involving the Department of Government Efficiency}}

The Trump administration is the subject of more than 200 lawsuits, many of them involving DOGE.{{Cite web| title = Litigation Tracker: Legal Challenges to Trump Administration Actions| work = Just Security| access-date = 2025-04-30| date = 2025-04-29| url = https://www.justsecurity.org/107087/tracker-litigation-legal-challenges-trump-administration/}} There are multiple lawsuits concerning the downsizing of federal organizations such as USAID,{{Cite web |last=Knappenberger |first=Ryan |date=11 February 2025 |title=Trump admin faces additional lawsuits over DOGE 'hackers,' USAID dismantling |url=https://www.courthousenews.com/trump-admin-faces-additional-lawsuits-over-doge-hackers-usaid-dismantling/ |access-date=2025-03-19 |website=Courthouse News Service |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Falconer |first=Rebecca |date=2025-02-07 |title=Trump sued by workers' unions over "unconstitutional and illegal" move to dismantle USAID |url=https://www.axios.com/2025/02/07/usaid-trump-rubio-sued-cuts |access-date=2025-03-19 |website=Axios |language=en}} and privacy and security concerns related to the accessing of computer systems and records across the government.{{Cite web| title = 11 lawsuits challenging DOGE focus on data access and privacy| publisher = NBC News| access-date = 2025-04-30| date = 2025-02-19| url = https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/doge-lawsuits-11-cases-musk-group-focus-data-privacy-rcna191695}}

Judges and journalists have struggled to define DOGE;{{Cite magazine| issn = 1059-1028| last = Schiffer| first = Zoë| title = 'Who Is Doge?' Has Become a Metaphysical Question| magazine = Wired| access-date = 2025-04-24| url = https://www.wired.com/story/elon-musk-doge-mystery-general-services-administration/}} members of the Trump administration have given conflicting accounts of its authority and leadership.{{cite news |last=Montague |first=Zach |date=2025-03-22 |title=What Is DOGE and Who Runs It? Trump Says One Thing, Government Lawyers Say Another. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/22/us/politics/what-is-doge-elon-musk-trump.html |access-date=2025-03-23 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} Trump has tried to exempt DOGE from disclosing its internal documentation.{{Cite web| last = Drucker| first = David M.| title = 'Clever' Trump Executive Order Shrouds DOGE From Public Scrutiny| work = The Dispatch| access-date = 2025-02-28| date = 2025-01-23| url = https://thedispatch.com/article/clever-trump-executive-order-shrouds-doge-from-public-scrutiny/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250317121121/https://thedispatch.com/article/clever-trump-executive-order-shrouds-doge-from-public-scrutiny/ |archive-date=March 17, 2025 |quote=The move was legal—not to mention strategically impressive—some lawyers with government experience have told The Dispatch, because the U.S. Digital Service was born of the executive branch, not created by congressional statute. [...] Also impressive to those lawyers was declaring DOGE a "temporary organization" [...] which allows it to hire individuals for any length of time and compensation Trump and Musk prefer.

}} In court, DOGE has argued that it is not a government agency; a federal judge found that DOGE is indeed one.{{Cite web| last = Brodkin| first = Jon| title = Judge orders Musk and DOGE to delete personal data taken from Social Security| work = Ars Technica| access-date = 2025-04-29| date = 2025-03-21| url = https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/03/judge-orders-musk-and-doge-to-delete-personal-data-taken-from-social-security/ |quote=During a hearing, "defendants took the position that DOGE is not an agency," but Hollander rejected this claim. Even if it was true, DOGE not being an agency would hurt its defense, the judge wrote. "This is curious. If DOGE is not an agency, then its employees cannot be detailed from DOGE to the SSA under the Economy Act," she wrote.}}{{cite court |url=https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mdd.577321/gov.uscourts.mdd.577321.49.0.pdf |litigants=American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO v. Social Security Administration |court=United States district court for the district of Maryland |year=2025 |quote=During the hearing, defendants took the position that DOGE is not an agency. This is curious. If DOGE is not an agency, then its employees cannot be detailed from DOGE to the SSA under the Economy Act. … Other courts have recently concluded, in well reasoned opinions, that USDS (i.e., DOGE) is an agency. … Guided by case law, and without the benefit

of briefing on the issue, I am satisfied, for the purposes of this opinion, that DOGE is an agency

with the meaning of the Privacy Act }}

John Yoo has suggested that presenting Musk as a presidential advisor may provide him "legal insulation" over DOGE actions.{{Cite web |last1=Schwartz |first1=Rafi |last2=published |first2=The Week US |date=2025-02-19 |title=Who is actually running DOGE? |url=https://theweek.com/politics/doge-elon-musk-administrator-in-charge |access-date=2025-03-27 |website=The Week |language=en |quote=The filing creates "legal insulation" for Musk [...] As an adviser without any ability to enact policy on his own, "Musk cannot be sued for DOGE activities," and any subsequent suits would "really be against the president or the United States government" instead.}} Josh Blackman concurred: "So long as an actual government official is pushing the 'cancel' button, I don't know that Musk is holding any actual substantial authority."{{cite web | url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/elon-musks-government-role-unconstitutional-supreme-court/story?id=118846052 | title=Is Elon Musk's government role unconstitutional? What the Supreme Court might say | website=ABC News |quote="So long as an actual government official is pushing the 'cancel' button, I don't know that Musk is holding any actual substantial authority."}} Judge Theodore D. Chuang still declared that Musk has "played a leading role" in actions taken by DOGE at USAID, by tweeting on February 2 and 3 about events for which there is a trace in the proper chain of command days later.{{cite news |last=Montague |first=Zach |date=2025-03-18 |title=Musk's Role in Dismantling Aid Agency Likely Violated Constitution, Judge Finds |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/18/us/politics/elon-musk-usaid-doge-unconstitutional.html |access-date=2025-03-23 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250320062904/https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/18/us/politics/elon-musk-usaid-doge-unconstitutional.html |archive-date=March 20, 2025}}

Government organization and management experts noted that the DOGE effort "appears to go beyond IT and HR initiatives to include areas such as procurement, real property, and substantive agency operations". Some experts warn that the actions could negatively impact the economy and markets and may be "leaving taxpayers with an enormous bill and federal agencies in operational disarray".{{Cite news |last=Saul |first=Derek |date=February 24, 2025 |title=DOGE Layoffs Pose 'Growing' Risk To U.S. Economy And Markets, Says Apollo Economist |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2025/02/24/doge-layoffs-pose-growing-risk-to-us-economy-and-markets-says-apollo-economist/ |url-access=limited |work=Forbes}}{{Cite news |last=Soloway |first=Stan |date=March 25, 2025 |title=Buckle up: The acquisition ride is only going to get bumpier |url=https://www.nextgov.com/ideas/2025/03/buckle-acquisition-ride-only-going-get-bumpier/404012/ |work=NextGov}}

Treasury Department and IRS officials have predicted a decrease of more than 10 percent in tax receipts by the April 15 deadline{{emdash}}more than $500 billion in lost federal revenue; they noted that "DOGE-driven workforce reductions" were a factor.{{Cite news |date=2025-03-23 |title=Tax revenue could drop by 10 percent amid turmoil at IRS - The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/03/22/irs-tax-revenue-loss-federal-budget/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250323115010/https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/03/22/irs-tax-revenue-loss-federal-budget/ |archive-date=2025-03-23 |access-date=2025-03-27 |newspaper=The Washington Post}} One estimate, published in the New York Times, states the DOGE effort will cost taxpayers over $135 billion resulting about 640 billion lost compared to the unknown saved.{{Cite news |last=Williamson |first=Elizabeth |date=2025-04-24 |title=What Elon Musk Didn't Budget For: Firing Workers Costs Money, Too |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/24/us/politics/musk-cuts.html |access-date=2025-04-28 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}

DOGE canceled at least $100 million worth of affordable housing contracts to nonprofits in February after trawling their websites for DEI terminology. According to Shaun Donovan, former secretary of HUD, said that "decision will raise costs for families, hobble the creation of affordable homes, forfeit local jobs, and sap opportunity from thousands of communities in all 50 states."{{Cite news |date=2025-03-11 |title=Trump DEI Purge Hits Affordable Housing Groups |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-03-11/doge-cuts-contracts-to-affordable-housing-groups-who-mention-dei-words |access-date=2025-04-20 |work=Bloomberg.com}}

On March 25, 2025, services at the Social Security Administration (SSA) were reportedly breaking down; there were multiple website crashes, call waiting times were two times longer than previous years, there was a 24% call answer rate, and an attrition rate at a Portland field office was described as "off the charts".{{Cite news |date=2025-03-25 |title=Long waits, floods of calls, web crashes: Social Security is breaking down - The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/03/25/social-security-phones-doge-cuts/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250325221124/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/03/25/social-security-phones-doge-cuts/ |archive-date=2025-03-25 |access-date=2025-03-27 |newspaper=The Washington Post}} On April 7, Gizmodo reported that SSA servers crashed after DOGE members updated their verification software without testing if it could handle load surges.{{Cite web |last=Maxwell |first=Thomas |date=2025-04-07 |title=Social Security Website Crashes Blamed on DOGE Software Update |url=https://gizmodo.com/social-security-website-crashes-blamed-on-doge-software-update-2000586092 |access-date=2025-04-10 |work=Gizmodo}}

As of April 22, Brooke Nichols' Impact Counter estimates that there have been more than 210,000 deaths associated with the freeze on foreign medical aid.{{Cite web |title=Impact Metrics Dashboard |url=https://www.impactcounter.com/dashboard?view=table&sort=title&order=asc |access-date=April 6, 2025 |website=Impact Counter}}

A USAID info memo written by Nicholas Enrich, Acting Assistant Administrator for Global Health, dated 4 March 2025, outlines the risks to US national security and public health. He states that a failure to contain infectious diseases at their source poses a direct threat to public health and economic stability. He concludes: "Any decision to halt or significantly reduce global health funding for lifesaving humanitarian assistance (LHA)-despite approved waivers-and USAID global health programming, despite congressional mandates, would have severe domestic and global consequences."{{cite news |last1=Enrich |first1=Nicholas |date=3 March 2025 |title=Info memo for the USAID administrator and deputy administrator |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/03/03/health/usaid-memo.html |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250303181117/https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/03/03/health/usaid-memo.html |archive-date=3 March 2025 |access-date=9 April 2025 |work=The New York Times |page=20 |quote=The temporary pause on foreign aid and delays in approving lifesaving humanitarian assistance (LHA) for global health will lead to increased death and disability, accelerate global disease spread , contribute to destabilizing fragile regions, and heightened security risks - directly endangering American national security, economic stability, and public health}} Enrich was notified that he was put on administrative leave less than 30 minutes after the memo's publication, a decision that had reportedly been made a week prior.{{Cite web |last=Shalal |first=Andrea |date=March 3, 2025 |title=USAID official warns of unnecessary deaths from Trump's foreign aid block, then says he's been put on leave |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/usaid-official-warns-unnecessary-deaths-trumps-foreign-aid-block-then-says-hes-2025-03-03/ |access-date=April 30, 2025 |website=Reuters}}

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• {{citation |title=DOGE's Only Public Ledger Is Riddled With Mistakes |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/21/upshot/doge-musk-trump-errors.html |work=The New York Times |date=2025-02-21 }}

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• {{Official website|https://doge.gov}}
• [https://www.spotlightondoge.com/ Independent Analysis of DOGE's Claimed Savings]

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