Enactment Date: 01/20/2025
Category: Debt
Summary: The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was created on January 20, 2025, through an executive order issued by President Donald J. Trump on his first day in office during his second term. DOGE, officially the United States DOGE Service, emerged from discussions between Trump and Elon Musk in the summer of 2024, aiming to modernize federal technology, reduce government spending, and enhance efficiency by restructuring federal agencies, cutting regulations, and slashing wasteful expenditures, with Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy initially appointed as its leaders to drive an 18-month agenda targeting up to $2 trillion in budget cuts. It was established by rebranding the existing United States Digital Service within the Executive Office of the President, granting it broad access to federal data systems, and has since sparked controversy for its lack of transparency, potential conflicts of interest due to Musk’s "Special Government Employee" status, and aggressive actions like mass layoffs, targeting USAID, and accessing sensitive Treasury payment systems, prompting lawsuits and debates over its legality and impact on public services.