Washington Watch: The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)
The following publication was written by Strategics Consulting for the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners' (NCACC) County Quarterly article series “Washington Watch.”
On January 20, 2025, President Donald Trump was inaugurated for a second term in office and signed a series of Executive Orders, including one to establish the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to “implement the President’s DOGE agenda.” With this Executive Order, the former United States Digital Service — a 10-year-old governmental organization created under President Obama to assist the federal government in enhancing its digital and technology capabilities — was rebranded as the United States DOGE Services (USDS).
As originally conceived and frequently discussed during President Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, DOGE is intended to be an external commission focused on reducing federal spending, assessing the federal workforce, evaluating the efficiency of federal agencies, and modernizing technology infrastructure. In a statement posted to social media platform X on November 12, 2024, President-elect Trump put Elon Musk, CEO of X, Tesla, SpaceX, and other companies, along with presidential candidate, entrepreneur, and Trump ally, Vivek Ramaswamy, in charge of leading DOGE. Ramaswamy has since stepped down from the DOGE effort to run for Ohio governor.
While the creation of an entity like DOGE is historic, it is not unprecedented. Similar commissions have been established dating back to 1905, when President Theodore Roosevelt created the Keep Commission. President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the Brownlow Committee in 1937, which led to significant structural changes in the executive branch. Since then, Presidents Harry S. Truman, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton have each created advisory commissions designed to address the efficiency and effectiveness of the federal government. President Barack Obama formed the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform in 2010 to address the federal budget deficit.
With the establishment of DOGE within the United States Digital Service, as outlined in the Executive Order, it has now taken residence in the White House complex, specifically within the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. In contrast to the original United States Digital Service, which was traditionally overseen by the Office of Management and Budget, the newly renamed United States DOGE Service (USDS) falls directly under the purview of the Executive Office of the President. The official website is doge.gov.
The Details about DOGE
The DOGE Executive Order terminates the Department on July 4, 2026, which coincides with the 250th anniversary of the United States Declaration of Independence, also known as the United States Semiquincentennial. This new organization is to be led by an “administrator” who reports directly to the President’s Chief of Staff. Amy Gleason officially holds the role of U.S. DOGE Service Administrator, while Musk currently oversees DOGE’s broad initiatives and operational goals as a senior advisor to the president and “special government employee.”
Musk, who is serving without pay, has been provided with a White House email address and an office situated within the White House. Congress created the role of “special government employee” in the 1960s to allow the executive branch, legislative branch, and independent federal agencies to hire employees on a temporary basis for specific roles, typically to provide specialized expertise.
Under this Executive Order, each federal agency is required to form a “DOGE Team.” Agency heads are tasked with ensuring that DOGE Team Leads coordinate their efforts with USDS and advise on how to implement the president’s DOGE agenda. These DOGE Teams are required to be established within 30 days of the executive order’s signing, which took place on January 20, 2025.
The Executive Order also lays the groundwork for the Trump Administration’s technological overhaul objectives. The new USDS Administrator is required to initiate a Software Modernization Initiative aimed at improving the quality and efficiency of government-wide software, network infrastructure, and IT systems. This aspect of DOGE’s scope reflects the Trump Administration’s broader goal of modernizing the federal government, especially in terms of its technology systems, while also pursuing fiscal responsibility. Much like its predecessor, the newly formed DOGE is tasked with not only driving efficiency but also ensuring that technology infrastructure evolves to meet contemporary demands.
In keeping with the original concept of DOGE, the new USDS — often referred to simply as DOGE — aims to be a force for cost-cutting and efficiency in the federal government. In its first few official weeks, DOGE is already making its presence known and impacting federal agencies and the federal workforce with initiatives such as:
Issuing an email to all federal employees offering buyouts for those willing to retire early, a move seen as an effort to reduce workforce costs.
Effectively halting operations at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), including stopping all payments and placing employees on administrative leave.
Stopping certain payments from the U.S. Department of the Treasury to contractors.
Initiating a review of technology at the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA), aimed at improving safety measures, including a focus on “rapid safety upgrades” to the air traffic control system.
Eliminating Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives within federal agencies, by curtailing DEI programs and cancelling DEI-related contracts across government departments, in favor of merit-based systems.
Working with the General Services Administration (GSA), which manages federal property for various agencies, to begin terminating leases on roughly 7,500 federal offices around the country, with priority on those identified as empty.
These early actions represent the scope of DOGE’s ambition: reshaping the government’s structure, cutting spending, and modernizing its technology systems while ensuring that federal operations are more efficient and align with the priorities of the Trump Administration.
Not everyone has embraced DOGE and its sweeping reforms, with opponents raising concerns over its far-reaching goals and methods. A number of lawsuits have already been filed against DOGE. It is expected that the judicial system could put a temporary, complete, and/or partial halt to some of DOGE’s work. For example, North Carolina, along with 18 other states, is suing the federal government’s DOGE to stop access to Treasury Department records.
Congress, too, will have influence on the reach of some DOGE initiatives, including, but not limited to, efforts to abolish or consolidate USAID or any other federal agency, such as the U.S. Department of Education, which can only happen through congressional action. In short, steep budget cuts, significant policy changes, and agency eliminations require approval from both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. Worth noting, Congressman David Rouzer (R-NC-7) introduced the States’ Education Reclamation Act (H.R. 369) on January 13, 2025, to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education, his sixth attempt to abolish the agency. Congressman Rouzer has proposed eliminating the federal agency during every Congress since he was first elected in 2014.
Meanwhile, efforts that align with DOGE initiatives are emerging elsewhere across the political landscape at the federal, state, and local levels. In the U.S. House of Representatives, Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) is the chair of the newly established House Delivering on Government Efficiency (DOGE) Subcommittee under the full House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. The first hearing by the subcommittee was held on February 12, 2025. Additionally, the Delivering Outstanding Government Efficiency Caucus has been formed in both the House and Senate, with Senator Ted Budd (R-NC) among the members in the Senate.
Several states are also creating their own DOGE-inspired commissions to tackle government efficiency at the state level. In January, North Carolina House Speaker Destin Hall created a new select committee on government efficiency to be led by Rep. John Torbett (R-Gaston) and Rep. Keith Kidwell (R-Beaufort).
The Trump Administration has issued several additional executive orders since the establishment of DOGE to further its mission of government efficiency and spending reductions, including: “Implementing the President’s ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ Workforce Optimization Initiative” on February 11, 2025; “Ensuring Lawful Governance and Implementing the President’s ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ Deregulatory Initiative“ on February 19, 2025; and “Implementing the President’s ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ Cost Efficiency Initiative” on February 26, 2025.
President Trump campaigned on promises to overhaul the federal government, institute sweeping reform, and significantly cut federal spending in some areas. The long-term impact of these efforts, particularly through DOGE, however, remains to be seen given the extensive work required to meet those goals, as well as the legal uncertainties and challenges DOGE may face.
