Trump’s DOGE Order Details How Musk Effort Will Function

Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump offers his hand to Tesla founder Elon Musk back stage during a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show grounds, in Butler, Pa., on Oct. 5, 2024. Anna Moneymaker /Getty Images

A Jan. 20 executive order from the desk of President Donald Trump established and clarified the function of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

The new department was formed to reduce government waste and assist with making federal operations more efficient.

The department, implemented for the first time by the Trump administration, was brought to life with the help of several prominent figures, including X owner Elon Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.

Department Structure

The president’s executive order answered a few questions about how DOGE will work, including announcing the reordering and renaming of the United States Digital Service as the United States DOGE Service (USDS).

As part of the renamed agency, a new temporary organization with a lifespan of 18 months has been established, called the U.S. DOGE Service Temporary Organization, and will be tasked with implementing the inter-agency infrastructure to pursue DOGE’s mission.

The order requires every agency within the government to create a DOGE team with at least four employees. The various agencies will consult with the USDS and pick a team including, but not limited to, a DOGE team lead, an engineer, a human resources specialist, and an attorney.

These teams will work within their department and with DOGE to coordinate implementing the Trump administration’s DOGE agenda.

Included in that agenda will be the modernization of federal technology to maximize efficiency, which will be an effort between the agencies and DOGE, jointly. The order states that this will include “inter-operability between agency networks and systems, ensure data integrity, and facilitate responsible data collection and synchronization.” DOGE will also be given access to all unclassified agency records and software, as allowed by law.

Leadership and Planning

It was previously announced that DOGE would be run by Musk and Ramaswamy. A spokesperson for the DOGE confirmed on Jan. 20 that Ramaswamy would not be involved going forward.

Kelly acknowledged that Ramaswamy “played a critical role in helping us create DOGE” and cited the former presidential candidate’s intention to run for political office in Ohio as the reason he is stepping back.

Prior to Ramaswamy’s departure, he and Musk co-authored an article that appeared on Nov. 20, 2024, in the Wall Street Journal about early plans for the DOGE, including plans to eliminate outdated programs and work toward data-driven policymaking.

“The entrenched and ever-growing bureaucracy represents an existential threat to our republic, and politicians have abetted it for too long,” Musk and Ramaswamy wrote. “Unlike government commissions or advisory committees, we won’t just write reports or cut ribbons. We’ll cut costs.”

In addition to cutting individuals and processes considered ineffectual for federal progress, DOGE also plans to assist any fired employees to private-sector employment. One possible iteration of that includes a move from the president to use existing laws to provide incentives for early retirement or to offer voluntary severance payments.

The article also announced that DOGE could focus on possible fiscal irresponsibility at the Pentagon, which recently failed its seventh consecutive audit, and has an annual budget of over $800 billion.

“Critics claim that we can’t meaningfully close the federal deficit without taking aim at entitlement programs like Medicare and Medicaid, which require Congress to shrink,“ the article stated. ”But this deflects attention from the sheer magnitude of waste, fraud, and abuse that nearly all taxpayers wish to end—and that DOGE aims to address by identifying pinpoint executive actions that would result in immediate savings for taxpayers.”

At the time, DOGE announced they hoped to reduce the federal budget by around $2 trillion, which would equate to around 30 percent of the annual government budget.

Engagement With Lawmakers

DOGE has engaged with lawmakers, including meetings between Musk and various members of Congress to hash out strategies and address concerns. Musk has worked to underscore the importance of “building bridges” between the executive and legislative branches to secure the success of DOGE.

In addition to teams in each government agency, there will be groups related to the DOGE mission in both the House and the Senate.

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) plans to work with DOGE and chair the Senate chapter of the newly formed DOGE Caucus. Ernst has been vocal about her concerns regarding government spending, including hosting monthly Squeal Awards, as a way of identifying areas of waste, abuse, and inefficiencies, previously telling The Epoch Times “Everywhere you look in Washington, there is waste, fraud, and abuse.”

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, (R-Ga.) will serve as the chair of the DOGE subcommittee that collaborates with Musk and other department officials to determine how to lower the nation’s $36 trillion debt.

However, the agency received immediate pushback from various groups who filed a flurry of lawsuits against the Trump administration involving DOGE. Suits originated from a number of groups, including  The American Federation of Teachers, the National Security Counselors, the Center for Biological Diversity, and the consumer watchdog group Public Citizen.