The Scoop
One of the first executive orders Donald Trump plans to sign today as president will be aimed at establishing the Department of Government Efficiency — whose work will include updating federal software systems to “private-sector standards,” according to a fact sheet viewed by Semafor.
Trump announced the creation of DOGE, co-led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, shortly after winning the election in November. Their mission is focused on cutting government spending: Musk and Ramaswamy paid an early visit to Capitol Hill to discuss their efforts with lawmakers, and the creation of the Senate DOGE Caucus soon followed.
According to the fact sheet, DOGE will “oversee a substantial reduction in the size and scope of government” and operate “within the” US government, a potentially notable mandate given its creation as an outside-of-government entity.
The work is slated to begin with a focus on modernizing “information technology across the government,” including an update to its software that’s designed to be comparable with private-sector companies.
The group will also be working with Trump’s Cabinet picks to implement reforms, and the executive order directs every federal agency to establish its own “DOGE team.”
“DOGE will work with the Office of Management and Budget and all agencies to shrink the federal workforce, federal spending, and federal regulatory burdens,” the fact sheet notes.
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This executive order is one of hundreds that Trump plans to sign in the first few days of his presidency, and it may give DOGE more direct power to implement spending cuts and other changes.
Musk, who originally floated trying to cut $2 trillion from the roughly $6.8 trillion budget, recently walked back that number to around $1 trillion. (He described achieving $2 trillion in cuts as a “best-case outcome.”)
While there is skepticism in both parties about how effective DOGE will be, its goals have also been embraced by Republicans and some Democrats.
Notable
- Vivek Ramaswamy is expected to announce a run for Ohio governor and will likely step aside from his role at DOGE as a result, Semafor was told and multiple other outlets reported on Sunday.
- Much of the DOGE team was found through applications submitted on X, The Wall Street Journal recently reported.