What to know about Elon Musk's DOGE
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Protesters rally against the Department of Government Efficiency outside the Labor Department on Feb. 5, 2025, in Washington, D.C. Photo: Kena Betancur/VIEWpress
The Department of Governmental Efficiency led by Elon Musk is using slash-and-burn tactics to radically reshape the federal government even though the limits of its authority have never been fully outlined.
Why it matters: While DOGE has little institutional authority on paper, in practice it has charged ahead with the most drastic gutting of the federal bureaucracy recent memory at President Trump's behest.
What is DOGE?
President Trump established DOGE via executive order on his first day in office, with the goal of having it to cut bloat in the government bureaucracy and budget.
- The order didn't actually create a new office, but rather renamed the Obama-era United States Digital Service, an agency within the Executive Office of the President.
- Although it's named as a "department," DOGE isn't an official cabinet-level government entity.
Between the lines: The department's name is a winking reference to Musk's joke cryptocurrency Dogecoin.
Who is in DOGE?
Musk, one of Trump's most influential backers, has been tasked with leading DOGE.
- As such, he has been granted "special government employee" status, a designation that experts say could come pose ethical and legal dilemmas because of the government contracts his companies like Tesla and SpaceX enjoy.
- As for the rest of DOGE, little information is available about who Musk's operatives are, a fact Democrats have decried.
- "No information has been provided to Congress or the public as to who has been formally hired under DOGE, under what authority or regulations DOGE is operating, or how DOGE is vetting and monitoring its staff and representatives," Senate Democrats wrote in a letter to White House chief of staff Susie Wiles last week.
The big picture: Despite the secrecy, reports have proliferated about DOGE's team members.
- Last week, a DOGE staffer resigned after his racist social media posts were unearthed, including one in which he reportedly called to "normalize Indian hate." The staffer, 25, was reportedly a former SpaceX employee.
- Vice President JD Vance, whose wife is of Indian descent, took to X to call for the staffer to be reinstated.
- Vance's post came in response to Musk posting an internet poll on bringing the staffer back.
Zoom in: DOGE staffers come from a variety of backgrounds, though few have had experience working in the federal government, ProPublica reported.
- Tom Krause, 47, a former software CEO, helped DOGE gain access to the Treasury Department's payment system.
- Edward Coristine, 19, a recent college graduate who previously interned at Musk's Neuralink, is one of the DOGE staffers detailed to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).
- Steve Davis, 45, a longtime Musk associate at SpaceX, Boring Co. and X, has been instrumental in recruiting staffers for DOGE.
- Gavin Kliger, 25, is another DOGE member who is working as a senior adviser at OPM. Kliger has a history of reposting racist and misogynistic content online, Reuters reported.
What has DOGE been doing?
DOGE has swept through federal agency after federal agency, gaining access to internal systems and leading the charge to gut career civil servants.
- Trump signed an executive order Tuesday expanding DOGE's powers, requiring a "DOGE Team Lead" to be stationed at every government agency to oversee hiring decisions.
- Musk has trained him ire on the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Two of the agency's senior security officials were placed on administrative leave last week after refusing to allow DOGE staffers access to USAID headquarters and personnel files.
- Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent allegedly allowed DOGE representatives to access the Treasury Department's payment system, which manages the U.S. government's accounting, central payment systems and public debt.
- DOGE representatives have combed through IT databases in search of employees associated with DEI initiatives at the oceans and atmosphere agency, NOAA.
- DOGE also gained access to the inner workings of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which houses the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services, among other agencies.
What legal authority does DOGE have?
Musk's ability to plow forward with DOGE's overhaul has been questioned by Democrats and some Republicans.
- Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) warned Monday that "an unelected shadow government is conducting a hostile takeover of the federal government."
- Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) has questioned whether Musk has the authority shut down USAID, noting that Musk and other officials are obligated to notify Congress before closing or reorganizing agencies.
- Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) has also said there "is more than some question" as to whether Musk has the authority to shutter an agency funded via Congressional directive.
Who is fighting DOGE?
Lawsuits have played a key role in slowing at least some of DOGE's churn through the federal bureaucracy.
- A federal judge last week agreed to limit DOGE's access to a sensitive Treasury payment system information in response to a suit from federal employees' unions.
- A coalition of labor groups filed a suit against DOGE to stop it from gaining access to confidential data housed by the Labor Department.
- House Democrats predict "full-on combat" at the first DOGE subcommittee hearing this week.
Go deeper: Musk's wrecking ball pierces government's inner sanctum
Editor's note: This story was updated with additional developments.
