Trump outlines the mission of DOGE: to improve the overall performance of the government, reduce waste, and identify inefficiencies across federal agencies.
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.
