President Donald Trump established what he called the Department of Government Efficiency, launching an effort led by Elon Musk to officially recommend ways to slash federal spending.
During the campaign, Trump promised to create a "government efficiency commission" that will "eliminate fraud and improper payments." Trump took the first step Jan. 20 by signing an executive order to establish the commission, replacing an Obama-era agency with the effort known as DOGE. The acronym appears to be a nod to the Dogecoin cryptocurrency, which Musk and others have promoted.
On the same day, unions, watchdogs and law firms filed lawsuits alleging that DOGE violated a law that requires transparency rules on disclosure and hiring.
The promise is one of 75 Trump made that PolitiFact will track on the MAGA-Meter. Over the next four years, we will periodically evaluate the new administration's progress on Trump's 2024 campaign promises, just as we did with Barack Obama, Trump during his first term and Joe Biden.
Musk said before the election that he wanted the federal government to cut "at least $2 trillion." But in January, he said that $2 trillion was a "best-case outcome." Musk was set to co-lead the commission with Vivek Ramaswamy, a former Republican presidential candidate, but Ramaswamy dropped out as he teased a potential run for Ohio governor.
Although Trump's executive order calls DOGE a department, Congress has the power to organize agencies and departments. This is why media outlets have often referred to DOGE as a panel or a commission.
"It is not a new federal agency, which only Congress, under our constitution, is authorized to create," said Jessica Tillipman, associate dean for government procurement law at George Washington University Law School. "This comes down to basic separation of powers principles. We are not a monarchy. Our government is structured this way to prevent one branch, in this case the executive, from becoming too powerful (i.e., checks and balances)."
Congress could establish a new agency through legislation.
"With one party in control of the executive and legislative branches, this is not outside the realm of possibility," Tillipman said.
Trump's order does the following:
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Establishes DOGE to modernize "federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity."
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Renames the United States Digital Service as the United States DOGE Service established in the Executive Office of the President.
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Asks each agency head to identify at least four employees within 30 days as DOGE team members.
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States that DOGE is a temporary organization and shall terminate on July 4, 2026.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office estimated that fraud may cost the federal government $233 billion to $521 billion a year, citing 2018-22 data.
The federal government has several tools to identify fraud in federal programs, including an inspector general's office to lead audits of each agency. Also, the Congressional Budget Office keeps a running tabulation of options for reducing the deficit. Agencies also hear bid protests, and the federal courts hear contract actions that violate the law.
Experts on federal procurement and spending identified some potential challenges to DOGE's mission.
Any real movement on reducing appropriated funding, modifying entitlement programs or cutting programs will require congressional action, said Joshua Sewell, research and policy director at Taxpayers for Common Sense, a nonpartisan taxpayer advocacy group.
If nongovernment officials do this work, it may not only be duplicative, but those people aren't bound by the same ethics and conflict rules as government officials, Tillipman said.
"I am skeptical of any entity that may be comprised of non-government officials (due to the lack of ethics requirements) duplicating or hindering existing processes," Tillipman said. "It is not to say they can't be improved, but this is unprecedented. "
Trump promised to create a commission to find fraud and improper payments. He took the first step by creating DOGE, but we will monitor whether it survives court challenges and finds fraud. For now, we rate this promise In the Works.
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