Trump installs DOGE in the White House, abandoning the plan for an external task force

President Donald Trump is launching his Department of Government Effectiveness within the White House IT and Design Department, according to an executive order he signed Monday evening.

Trump’s executive order makes DOGE an official, but temporary, part of the executive office of the president. It’s a different model than the one Trump envisioned last November, when he said the government efficiency commission would provide advice but not be part of the federal government.

Trump’s executive order renames the US Digital Service, a team of technology and design consultants within the White House, to the “United States DOGE Service.” The Obama administration launched USDS in 2013 following the rocky rollout of HealthCare.gov.

Within the USDS, the Trump administration will create a “temporary US DOGE service organization” that will be disbanded on July 4, 2026 – a deadline already set by DOGE chief Elon Musk.

The executive order gives agency heads 30 days to assemble a team of at least four employees who will be part of the “DOGE teams” that will report to the USDS. Most agency DOGE teams will include a team, an engineer, a human resources specialist, and a lawyer.

“Agency heads shall ensure that DOGE team leaders coordinate their work with USDS and advise their respective agency heads on the implementation of the President’s DOGE agenda,” the executive order states.

The executive order directs USDS to launch a software modernization initiative, focused on improving the “quality and efficiency” of software, networks and IT systems across government.

Trump administration faces lawsuits over DOGE membership

The largest federal employee union is joining several groups in suing the newly sworn-in Trump administration over concerns about the makeup of its Department of Government Effectiveness.

The American Federation of Government Employees, along with the nonprofit Public Citizen and State Democracy Defenders Fund, filed a lawsuit against Trump and the Office of Management and Budget just minutes after Trump sworn in for a second term.

The lawsuit claims that Trump and the OMB violated the Federal Advisory Committee Act because DOGE members “do not have a fair balance of views,” its meetings are held behind closed doors, and the minutes of these meetings are not accessible to the public.

“Although FACA authorizes the use of advisory committees, it imposes various safeguards to prevent them from becoming vehicles for promoting private interests in federal decision-making and covertly influencing the exercise of discretion by officials federal,” the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit comes less than a week after the leaders of these organizations applied to become members of DOGE. A spokesperson for the transition told New York Times in a statement last week that “we have no room in our administration for Democrats.” The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuits.

The Federal Advisory Committee Act applies whenever an agency seeks advice from a group whose members are not all federal employees and collects that feedback for the agency’s own operations or activities.

The General Services Administration, which oversees FACA, says the legislation would not apply if an agency’s head met with private-sector leaders facing challenges similar to those facing the government — such as cutting staffing or cost reduction – provided that the agency has not asked them for specific advice or recommendations.

AFGE National President Everett Kelley said he asked to join the government’s efficiency commission “to elevate the voices of the thousands of federal workers who would be affected by DOGE’s recommendations.” According to the lawsuit, the union did not receive a response from DOGE.

In a Wall Street Journal op-ed last November, DOGE leaders Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy proposed significant reductions in the size of the federal workforce and “identifying the minimum number of employees required” in agencies.

Musk and Ramaswamy described themselves as “outside volunteers, not federal officials or employees,” and that the DOGE team “will work in the new administration closely with the White House Office of Management and Budget “.

The Associated Press reported that Ramaswamy is expected to leave his role leading DOGE to fill Vice President JD Vance’s vacant Senate seat.

Kelley said in a statement Monday that federal employees “deserve a voice in decisions that affect their jobs, their agencies and the public they serve.”

“AFGE will not stand idly by while a secretive group of ultra-wealthy individuals with major conflicts of interest attempt to deregulate and award their own companies government contracts while firing public officials and dismantling institutions designed to serve the American people,” Kelley said. said.

Trump said in November that DOGE would provide “advice and guidance from outside the government,” while “partnering with the White House Office of Management and Budget to pursue large-scale structural reform.”

The lawsuit also highlights potential conflicts of interest for DOGE leaders. Musk is the CEO of SpaceX, a company that holds billions of dollars in federal contracts, and is also the CEO of electronic vehicle maker Tesla.

The lawsuits claim that previous administrations’ task forces complied with FACA requirements.

In 1982, President Ronald Reagan launched the Grace Commission, a privately funded team of more than 160 private sector executives and more than 2,000 volunteers to “work like tireless bloodhounds to eliminate the inefficiency of the government and the waste of taxpayers’ money. The commission was disbanded after publishing its final report.

The Clinton administration launched the National Partnership to Reinvent Government in 1993, with the goal of making agencies more effective. The commission proposed government-wide federal workforce reductions and received financial and logistical support from the Department of Defense.

In 2011, the Obama administration launched a Government Accountability and Transparency Council composed of agency inspectors general, chief financial officers, deputy secretaries and other senior officials.

Trump briefly mentioned DOGE during his inaugural speech on Monday.

“The American dream will soon return and thrive like never before to restore competence and efficiency to our federal government,” he said.

Musk told the crowd at Capitol One Arena on Monday that DOGE would help ensure “reasonable spending” in the federal government.

FACA prohibits committees from meeting or taking action until an advisory committee charter has been filed, specifying the work and functions of the committee. But the lawsuit says that “DOGE will very soon be integrated into the White House, OMB, and other federal agencies.”

“Operating without complying with the FACA, the DOGE has already begun to develop recommendations and influence decision-making in the new administration, even though its composition lacks the proper balance required by the FACA and its meetings and its accounts are not open to public inspection in real time,” the lawsuit states.

A coalition of other nonprofits and the American Federation of Teachers are leading a similar lawsuit against DOGE, and a third lawsuit is being led by the law firm National Security Counselors.

The Center for Biological Diversity has filed a fourth lawsuit to compel OMB to hand over documents between its staff, Trump transition officials and DOGE leadership.

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