Organizing and grooming a team. Designating tasks to various agencies. Instilling crucial staff members in key positions. Gaining access to essential data and network systems. This has been a common cycle, enacted agency after agency. This pattern has been set in motion by the Department of Government Efficiency or DOGE, spearheaded by an affluent billionaire. The agenda is clear: to prune federal expenditure and reduce the size of the federal workforce.
The mechanism of DOGE has been systematic and methodical. The department has adopted a well-defined methodology, with teams of DOGE employees ushering these transformations. A vast majority of these teams consist of members without any previous background in government operations, which brings an outsider’s perspective.
Over time, DOGE has dispatched compact teams of personnel to various agencies, a notable one being the Department of Education. The primary objective of these deployments is to implement the president’s mandate for minimizing governmental expenses. The configuration of these groups is often diverse.
By the early part of February, DOGE’s presence was felt in over 15 agencies. Prominent amongst these were the Departments of the Treasury, Agriculture, and Homeland Security. In these departments, DOGE stationed its staff members in pivotal office positions, assigned significant roles and granted email access.
One of the operational facets of DOGE operatives is to amass data from various agencies. This includes sensitive personal information of citizenz of the United States. The intention behind this data conquest is to eliminate fraudulent activities and misuse of federal resources.
In an interesting turn of events, DOGE functionaries based in the Treasury Department attempted to leverage the department’s financial and tech offices to gain entry into payment systems deemed critical for the functioning of the country. However, judicial intervention obstructed this ambitious move.
No sector seems to be immune from DOGE’s sweeping changes, not even those agencies dealing with infrastructure. Case in point, the Bureau of Reclamation, which is tasked with providing water and power to the Western region. It too has felt the prick of DOGE’s reforms.
Meanwhile, DOGE is causing significant worry in several organizations by suggesting they eliminate a substantial portion of their workforce. Some agency managers mentioned a suggested reduction of at least 40 percent of their staff. They have raised concerns about the adverse impacts of such cuts on agency effectiveness and employee morale.
Speed appears to be an essential component of DOGE’s strategy as they push for drastic changes within the government. While acknowledging that this haste may lead to errors, DOGE seems steadfast in its pursuit of a leaner, more efficient federal structure.
DOGE has been continually forced to evolve and react to legal barriers. One such incidence occurred when a series of early legal bids attempted to bar DOGE personnel from collecting agency database information. The department responded by formally incorporating these individuals into its roster.
The core mission of DOGE, as consistently communicated, is to combat excessive waste, fraud, and misuse of resources within federal agencies. However, this leads to a necessary question – isn’t there already a federal organ in place for this purpose? The Federal Offices of Inspectors General shares the same mandate.
It would appear that DOGE’s actions are not always successful. There have been a considerable number of times when their initiatives have been legally obstructed. Despite this, DOGE continues to embed its team members within various agencies, occupying pivotal leadership positions.
Yet, consequences linger on. Regardless of court decisions which invalidated some of DOGE’s attempts to change governmental procedure, the team continues to make new inroads. These individuals permeate the government, settling into leadership roles and aiming to mold the federal bureaucracy according to their vision.