DOGE’s role within the system is to serve as an eye for inefficiencies and waste but not the hand that acts. The actual decisions about what to cut or change are made by the Trump administration, often involving further legislative processes if they involve significant alterations to policy or funding. This structure aims to maintain checks and balances while pushing for governmental reform, but it also faces scrutiny for transparency and overreach.
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) under the Trump administration is essentially a rebranding of the United States Digital Service (USDS), which was established during the Obama administration. The USDS was created to improve government digital services and technology infrastructure. Trump’s executive order renamed it the “U.S. DOGE Service,” shifting its focus towards government efficiency but maintaining its core function of IT modernization. This new name was announced to align with Trump’s campaign promises of reducing government waste, although it continues the original mission of enhancing government technology rather than directly cutting federal programs or budgets.
Scott Bessent on DOGE:
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“There’s a lot of misinformation. These are Treasury employees [working with DOGE]. There’s no tinkering with the system, they have read-only access, can make no changes.”
But… AOC and Elizabeth Warren said they’re stealing my grandma’s social security? pic.twitter.com/6PgZnIx1OY
DOGE serves as an advisory body rather than an entity with decision-making authority. Here’s how its operations are structured:
- Advisory Role: DOGE, led by Elon Musk, is designed to provide recommendations on how to improve governmental efficiency. It does not hold the power to enact changes directly within federal agencies or to cut budgets. Instead, its primary function is to identify areas of potential waste, inefficiency, or outdated regulations.
- Information Gathering: DOGE has been granted “read-only” access to certain federal systems, including those at the Treasury Department for payment systems. This means they can review financial data, operational processes, and other relevant information but cannot alter, delete, or input data. The purpose of this access is to perform comprehensive audits and to gather data necessary for analysis and recommendations.
- Example: Reports indicate that DOGE has access to federal payment systems to analyze transactions but cannot modify them. This was highlighted when a lawsuit led to an agreement where DOGE’s access was temporarily restricted to “read-only” to ensure privacy laws were respected.
- Decision-Making Process:
- Recommendations: After gathering and analyzing data, DOGE compiles its findings and makes recommendations to the Trump administration. These recommendations might include suggestions for budget cuts, regulatory changes, or restructuring of federal agencies.
- Executive Action: It is the Trump administration, specifically through executive orders or directives from the President or authorized officials, that decides which recommendations to act upon. For instance, if DOGE suggests cutting a particular program or agency, it’s the administration that must officially authorize these actions, often requiring legislative approval from Congress for significant changes.
- Legal and Operational Boundaries:
- DOGE operates within the bounds of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), which mandates transparency and public accountability for advisory groups. This means their meetings and findings should be accessible to the public, although there have been legal challenges regarding the transparency of DOGE’s operations.
- The Trump administration’s ability to implement DOGE’s recommendations is also limited by existing laws, such as those requiring Congressional approval for budget changes or new regulations.
- Public and Political Scrutiny: Critics argue about the potential for privacy breaches or misuse of data, whereas supporters see it as a necessary step towards government efficiency.
Nicole Shanahan: “On the topic of of DOGE, I don’t think people are hearing exactly what DOGE is. It’s yes. It’s an efficiency agency, but what really is it? I’ve heard from, an incoming agency head that what DOGE is, it’s a data mining research arm that can answer any budgetary question by department. And, I’ve seen it, you know, executed now a few times where an individual will ask, you know, tell me, everything about where department dollars are going overseas.”
“And they can deliver that and tell you every individual who is hired to execute specific programs. Now before DOGE, in order for you to answer some of these questions, you would have to either hire consulting team or build a team internally to do that work. It was very slow. You oftentimes wouldn’t get clean answers. So acting on efficiency goals with, like, inter agency was almost impossible.”
“So having this, like, external almost consulting team that has some of the best data miners and organizers we have in this country because each department has its own team, I’ve been told, about five or six people dedicated. And, and they’re really smart, very thoughtful, tech savvy. So they’re they’re actively mining information and turning it into, solutions in in just a matter I mean, USAID, you said he did over the weekend. I mean, they’re moving so rapidly. It’s fascinating.”
“And and people don’t understand how they’re doing it. I feel like if they understood how they were accomplishing these things, they would have greater respect for it as a, as really something we need in this country.”