The Scoop
President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order on Wednesday that gives new cost-cutting orders to federal agencies as part of the Department of Government Efficiency’s work.
The order, details of which were shared first with Semafor, directs agencies to justify and publicly release government payments and travel expenses, when possible. It also orders the General Services Administration to craft a plan for offloading any “unnecessary” government real estate — a goal in the works since the first days of Trump’s second term.
Trump’s latest order also directs agency leaders to work with the Elon Musk-affiliated DOGE team to end any contracts that are deemed unnecessary, though no details were immediately available on the criteria for those decisions.
Trump’s latest DOGE-related order builds on the power he’s already given the group led by Elon Musk. The president signed another executive order earlier this month, first reported by Semafor, which directed agencies to work with Musk’s team to cut staff and limit hiring.
DOGE’s efforts to drastically reduce the federal workforce took another step forward on Wednesday, when the Office of Management and Budget and Office of Personnel Management sent a seven-page memo obtained by Semafor that directs agencies to prepare for large-scale layoffs and offers guidance on implementing them.
The memo in part directs agencies to submit an initial round of “Agency Reorganization Plans” to both OMB and OPM by March 13. Those plans, according to the memo, will include a list of which agency subcomponents offer “direct services to citizens” and direction on whether the entire agency — or any part of the agency — can be eliminated.
The memo also directs agencies to submit a second round of plans by April 14, and orders agencies to send monthly progress reports for three months after that date.
While Musk has propelled the DOGE initiative — notably, he was at Trump’s first Cabinet meeting on Wednesday — the White House officially revealed yesterday that Amy Gleason is serving as the acting administrator of the effort.
Gleason is a former health care investment executive who has worked in both Trump and former President Joe Biden’s administrations.
Notable
- Elon Musk defended the “what did you do last week” email, saying Wednesday that it was not a “performance review,” but rather “a pulse check review.”
- Amid DOGE cuts, The Department of Homeland Security recently budgeted as much as $200 million for its new immigration ad campaign, Semafor reported.