Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has infiltrated a myriad of departments within the federal government with an objective to cut wasteful government spending.
Democrats have criticized the group’s reach, expressing worry that Musk has too much control over governmental operations.
However, President Donald Trump’s backing of the group, which is expected to be short-lived but impactful, has given them wide access to their goal of cutting potential trillions in spending.
Here’s where we know DOGE is across the federal government.
Veterans Affairs
The Department of Veterans Affairs told the Washington Examiner that DOGE has a one-employee presence within the agency. That employee is “focused on identifying wasteful contracts, improving VA operations, and strengthening management of the department’s IT projects.”
The person is also “solely focused on improving VA performance and efficiency,” the agency added, saying DOGE does not have access to veterans’ or VA beneficiaries’ data.
“VA looks forward to working with DOGE to improve services to Veterans, their families, caregivers and survivors,” a VA spokesperson said.
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
When contacted by the Washington Examiner, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services pointed to a statement released last week, in which the agency said it has “two senior Agency veterans” working with DOGE. One is focused on policy and one is focused on operations, and they are “including ensuring appropriate access to CMS systems and technology.”
“We are taking a thoughtful approach to see where there may be opportunities for more effective and efficient use of resources in line with meeting the goals of President Trump,” the statement says.
FEMA
The disaster aid agency has been one of Trump’s and DOGE’s biggest targets.
Musk said the Federal Emergency Management Agency was “broken” on Sunday, and he added on Monday that DOGE uncovered $59 million in recent FEMA payments to “luxury hotels in New York City to house illegal migrants.” Four employees were later fired.
The agency is also facing a complaint for deleting an LGBT “pride” chat, an action alleged to have violated federal law.
Trump has called for the agency to be “terminated.”
“FEMA spent tens of millions of dollars in Democrat areas, disobeying orders, but left the people of North Carolina high and dry,” Trump said Tuesday in a social media post. “It is now under review and investigation.”
He then said it should be the states themselves that handle storms and other natural disasters, arguing that would be “far more efficient.”
Department of Treasury
Trump and DOGE have shown their intent to stop the production of the penny, which would require intervention inside the Treasury Department.
“For far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents,” Trump said. “This is so wasteful! I have instructed my Secretary of the US Treasury to stop producing new pennies. Let’s rip the waste out of our great nations budget, even if it’s a penny at a time.”
The DOGE X account cited that the “penny costs over 3 cents to make and cost US taxpayers over $179 million in FY2023” the day after Trump’s inauguration. It also said the penny accounted for around 40% of coins produced.
DOGE’s exact presence in the agency is unclear.
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Several DOGE employees entered the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Washington headquarters on Friday to conduct a review of the agency, per multiple reports. Musk wrote, “CFPB RIP,” on X the same day.
The bureau’s headquarters have since been shuttered and employees have been asked to work remotely this week. Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought is the acting Director of the bureau.
The DOGE employees appear to have limited access to records and are mainly scrutinizing the agency to ensure it is complying with President Donald Trump’s executive orders, including ending diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. Politico also reported that three Musk allies have set up an office in the CFPB.
Vought announced on Saturday that the CFPB would not receive its next round of “unappropriated funding” as this has contributed to the agency’s “unaccountability.”
Department of Defense
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said recently that DOGE would be “welcomed” at the Defense Department.
“So we welcome DOGE at DOD, we will partner with them, and it’s long overdue,” Hegseth said on Fox News’s Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo. “The Defense Department’s got a huge budget, but it needs to be responsible.”
Musk and Trump have expressed their willingness in the past to target the Pentagon’s spending.
Trump said in his Super Bowl interview on Sunday that DOGE would soon be targeting the Defense Department.
USAID
The Trump administration and DOGE have dismantled the U.S. Agency for International Development in its current form, with plans to put the agency under the State Department.
Musk previously called USAID a “criminal organization” and Trump said, “It’s been run by a bunch of radical lunatics, and we’re getting them out.”
Department of Health and Human Services
DOGE said it has canceled millions in government contracts for the Department of Health and Human Services.
“In the past 48 hours, HHS canceled 62 contract worth $182 million,” DOGE posted Friday on X. “These contracts were entirely for administrative expenses – none touched any healthcare programs. This included terminating a $168,000 contract for an Anthony Fauci exhibit at the NIH Museum.”
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has yet to be confirmed as secretary of the department, but he has been critical of vaccines in the past, potentially opening spending in those areas up to scrutiny.
His vote in the Senate is scheduled to take place on Wednesday.
Office of Personnel Management
Musk ally Amanda Scales, the new chief of staff at the Office of Personnel Management, formerly worked at xAI, which is his artificial intelligence company, the Washington Post reported.
The OPM is key to DOGE’s efforts to shrink the federal workforce as the agency that handles government employees. The organization is handling the government’s 8-month buyout plan that has been offered to most federal employees.
The outlet also reported that some DOGE employees have OPM email addresses.
U.S. Digital Service
The U.S. Digital Service is effectively DOGE at the moment.
Trump issued an executive order to rename the service the “United States DOGE Service.”
The order also said “each Agency Head shall establish within their respective Agencies a DOGE Team of at least four employees, which may include Special Government Employees, hired or assigned within thirty days of the date of this Order” in consultation with the USDS.
General Services Administration
The Washington Post reported that Thomas Shedd, who worked for several years at Musk’s Tesla, was named director of a critical tech unit within the agency.
The agency plans on cutting its budget in half and cutting many of its staff. It’s unknown if the cuts are prompted by DOGE specifically.
The outlet also reported that some DOGE employees, like in OPM, have General Services Administration emails.
Department of Education
DOGE cut around $900 million worth of contracts at the Education Department’s Institute of Education Sciences.
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The IES is responsible for the National Assessment of Educational Progress assessment, nicknamed the nation’s report card, and the College Scorecard, a database of university costs and outcomes.
Musk’s group said it cut $881 million at the Department of Education and that “one contractor was paid $1.5mm to ‘observe mailing and clerical operations’ at a mail center.”
