On Day 1 of his office, U.S. president elect Donald Trump swung into action, by releasing an executive order to “establish and implement Department of Government Efficiency (D.O.G.E.)”, a federal department to act as a watchdog for other departments of the U.S. government. Setting up of D.O.G.E. under tech mogul Elon Musk was one of the high points of Trump campaign ahead of 2024 US presidential elections.
D.O.G.E. has projected as a one stop solution for all bureaucracy related inefficiencies and excessive public expenditure, cherished by Elon Musk and American entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, both close associates of Trump. On Monday, after Trump finished his inaugural speech and headed towards oval office, he signed an executive order announcing setting up of D.O.G.E.
As per a statement released by the official handle of D.O.G.E. on X and the White House official website, the executive order signed by Trump highlighting purpose, definition, structure and general provisions of the federal department. As per the order, D.O.G.E. has been set up to “implement the President’s DOGE Agenda, by modernizing Federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity.”
Structure of D.O.G.E.
As per the executive order released by Trump, the existing United States Digital Service will be renamed as United States D.O.G.E. services (USDS) and it will function under the president’s executive office. The USDS will have an administrator who will report directly to the White House Chief of Staff who “shall be dedicated to advancing the President’s 18-month DOGE agenda. The U.S. DOGE Service Temporary Organization shall terminate on July 4, 2026.”.
The executive order has further provisions for creating smaller D.O.G.E. teams in every federal agency of the U.S. government wherein every team will have at least four members consisting of one team lead, one engineer, one attorney and one human resources specialist. It will be the responsibility of every federal agency head to nominate members of their respective D.O.G.E. teams in coordination with the USDS administrator.
Role of USDS Administrator
According to the executive order, the USDS administrator will be tasked with a “software modernization” initiative to “improve the quality and efficiency of government-wide software, network infrastructure, and information technology (IT) systems.”
The USDS administrator will serve as the nodal agency head who will ensure inter-operability between different agencies and to ensure responsible data collection. The president’s executive order supersedes any past executive orders or regulations that might hinder USDS.
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