- President Trump signed an executive order to create a new advisory group
- The Department of Government Effectiveness (DOGE) will be led by Elon Musk
- The department is responsible for modernizing government software and digital infrastructure.
New President Trump signed a series of executive orders after being sworn in, including announcing that America’s Digital Services (USDS) will be renamed US DOGE Services (also USDS).
The advisory group known as DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) was charged with restoring “the competence and efficiency of our federal government,” Trump confirmed in his inaugural address.
DOGE has already made its first reduction in efficiency in its co-leader Vivek Ramaswamy, who was previously expected to join Tesla CEO Elon Musk as head of the department, but sources have since announced that he will instead run for office. governorship of Ohio.
Not quite a department
To create an official federal executive department, a president must introduce an act of Congress, so that this newly created group would not have the powers of an executive department – which would be necessary to carry out the reorganization and vast reductions of jobs and budget proposed by Musk and Ramaswamy.
The executive order instead established “software modernization” plans to advance the government’s network infrastructure and computer systems, while giving USDS access to the agency’s “unclassified” records, “legally compliant” computer systems and software.
In addition to the modernization plans, the executive order created a temporary organization, the US DOGE Service Temporary Organization, ending July 4, 2026, which will seek to advance Trump’s “18-month DOGE agenda.”
Musk previously suggested that DOGE would facilitate $2 trillion in cuts by reducing labor and reducing waste, although experts have warned that this would not be possible.
Three lawsuits have been filed in federal court since the executive order was signed, alleging the department is violating transparency requirements, while highlighting the lack of balance in its composition and proper advisory committee procedures.
Via TechCrunch
