US establishes Department of Government Efficiency

Among the flurry of executive orders signed by the US President, Donald Trump, on Monday after formally assuming office, is the setting up of the much-publicised Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). 

According to the White House, the Executive Order – which has the force of the law - establishes the department “to implement the President’s DOGE Agenda, by modernising Federal technology and software to maximise governmental efficiency and productivity”. 

As widely expected, billionaire Elon Musk will lead the effort to implement President Trump’s election promise to slash government headcount and spending.  

Vivek Ramaswamy is missing from the DOGE leadership as he is considering running for the Ohio governor's office. 

Another major change to the pre-election promise is that DOGE will no longer be just an advisory body. Instead, it will absorb the existing United States Digital Services (USDS). According to the White House announcement, the service would now be renamed the United States DOGE Service (USDS). 

Giving administrative heft 

To give administrative heft to the new entity, President Trump is establishing a USDS Administrator role within the executive office of the President who will report to the White House Chief of Staff, Susie Wiles. 

To subscribe to the GovInsider bulletin click here.

Former president, Barack Obama, set up the old USDS to help agencies with their technology efforts and the department has had more than 200 employees hired for two-to-four-year terms. 

The White House release noted that a US DOGE Service Temporary Organisation would also be established under the administrator to advance the agenda of the president till July 4, 2026, which coincides with President Trump’s 18-month DOGE agenda. 

Under the USDS, individual government agencies would also get their own DOGE teams “of at least four employees, which may include special government employees, hired or assigned within 30 days of the date of the order”, the White House release said. 

Focus on software modernisation 

While the initial focus of DOGE was to cut government spending, the current emphasis seems to be equally on a software modernisation effort within the government to “improve the quality and efficiency of government-wide software, network infrastructure, and information technology (IT) systems”. 

One key focus area in the endeavour will be to have agency DOGE heads to promote interoperability between agency networks and systems, ensure data integrity and facilitate responsible data collection and synchronisation. 

Musk on his part has also deemphasised his pre-election rhetoric of cutting US$2 trillion from the federal budget saying that even half of that amount would be “an epic outcome”.  

In an interview on social media platform X, Musk said if the budget deficit could be reduced from US$2 trillion to US$1 trillion, that “would free up the economy to have additional growth”.  

The White House order, while it focuses on government software modernisation, makes no specific mention of rolling back the government head count.  

President Trump, while on the campaign trail, had previously mentioned that the objective of DOGE was to dismantle government bureaucracy slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies. 

Legal challenges 

However, this did not prevent employee unions from starting legal action immediately after the executive order.  

According to a Reuters report, interest groups like the National Security Counselors, the American Public Health Association, the American Federation of Teachers and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, started lawsuits on various grounds against the establishment of USDS. 

Within political circles many Republicans as well as Democratic lawmakers have come out in support of DOGE’s mission to streamline the federal government, showing that there is some bipartisan support for cutting government spending.