During the second Trump administration, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) took control of the federal government information systems in order to downsize federal agencies. DOGE embedded units from the executive branch of the government, including cabinet departments and various types of independent agencies. It targeted regulatory agencies and units from the legislative branch. It also targeted quasi-autonomous non-governmental organizations and organizations outside the federal government.

This operation allowed Elon Musk and a network of operatives to facilitate mass layoffs, to terminate contracts, and to slash regulations. Many public records were modified or removed from federal websites and databases. These actions have fostered reactions by federal workers, civil society, and the public, ranging from protests to lawsuits.

Overview

Timeline

DOGE arrived at OPM on Inauguration day. By February, DOGE had tried to dismantle the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Department of Education, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). February 14, 2025, became known inside the civil service as “the Saint Valentine’s Day massacre.” On that day, OPM directed agencies to fire probationary employees. Probationary employees are those who have just been hired and do not yet have full civil service protections.

Impact

The Wall Street Journal found that, in February 2025, the units most affected by DOGE contract terminations were: USAID, Health and Human Services (HHS), Social Security Administration (SSA), the Department of Education (Ed), and General Services Administration (GSA).

Classification In 18 U.S.C. section 6, an agency "includes any department, independent establishment, commission, administration, authority, board or bureau of the United States or any corporation in which the United States has a proprietary interest".

The concept of government corporation has no single definition in the U.S. Code. The chapter on government corporations from the US Code stipulates that "government corporation" refers to a corporation wholly owned by the government or with mixed ownership, and provides a list of the current ones. This list excludes the United States Postal Service, which is an independent agency that acts like a corporation.

In the executive order establishing DOGE, an agency is defined by section 551 of title 5 of the United States Code, with the proviso that "such term does not include the Executive Office of the President or any components thereof". Executive orders 14210, 14219, and 14222, also related to DOGE, refer to 44 U.S.C. 3502, with the same proviso.

Executive Office of the President

Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

Russell Vought, a Project 2025 contributor close to DOGE, was nominated as the OMB director on February 6, 2025. The New York Times reported that, along with Stephen Miller, Steven Davis, and Elon Musk, Vought was planning the takeover of the federal information systems early in the government transition.

On May 23, NPR revealed that DOGE member Ethan Shaotran used his General Services Administration email address to send a "2025 Survey of Surveys" to federal agencies, seemingly bypassing OMB's authority; the survey contains a warning that agencies that fail to participate face adverse actions.

United States Digital Service (USDS)

The day of his inauguration, Trump signed executive order 14158, reorganizing the USDS as the U.S. DOGE Service and granting the new USDS "full and prompt access to all unclassified agency records, software systems and IT systems" to the "maximum extent consistent with law". The next day, DOGE instructed USDS employees by email to sign up for 15-minute interviews, which were led the next day. Wired reported that Thomas Shedd was leading the interviews, alongside so-called "DOGE Kids".

USDS had 230 employees in 2024. In February 2025, it had 65, until a third of the remaining ones resigned in protest. DOGE members Steve Davis and Brad Smith met with USDS officials weeks before the inauguration.

Cabinet departments

Agriculture On February 14, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Brooke Rollins revealed that DOGE has been at the agency for "a few weeks", welcomed their efforts, and expected full compliance from USDA teams, while farmers and policymakers raised concerns about the funding freeze. One month later, more than 100 USDA offices faced lease termination. By July, DOGE personnel had administrative access to the National Payment Service, which controls government payments and loans to farmers and ranchers, and contains loan application records with personal information.

Farm Service Agency (FSA)

DOGE has reviewed FSA loans.

National Finance Center (NFC)

In early February, DOGE accessed the NFC.

National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS)

DOGE fired the 300 scientists who were maintaining the 600,000 genetic lines of some 200 crop species at the National Plant Germplasm System; a temporary retraining order reinstated some of the 300 scientists.

Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)

In March, DOGE announced the closing of 59 FSA and NRCS.

United States Forest Service (USFS)

On February 5, USFS employees could not access their performance review portal.

At the start of April, DOGE terminated a tree planting program in St. Louis, citing anti-DEI push.

Commerce

Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA)

DOGE member Nate Cavanaugh sent a letter on April 17 to notify MBDA's 41 business centers that all their grants were terminated.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

On February 4, DOGE entered NOAA. Nikhil Rajpal was granted editorship to all NOAA Google sites. Staff from the NOAA Information Technology group and the Department of Commerce attempted to keep them from the systems according to security protocols, but they defied authorized security staff and forcefully entered the facilities. Operatives were also looking for anything connected to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) on bulletin boards and were inspecting bathroom signs to ensure compliance with Trump's executive orders.

On February 17, DOGE released 1,127 federal contracts spanning 39 federal departments and agencies, which included several NOAA contracts. DOGE announced the "deobligation" of $1,073,496 from the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research's (OAR) Uncrewed Systems Research Transition Office (UxSRTO) that was for "scientific, engineering, and technical support".

On February 27, The Hill reported that the firing of probationary employees has begun.

As of February 28, the landing page of the NOAA External Affairs website reads: "Due to the recent layoffs at NOAA, all members of the External Affairs team were relieved of their duties."

United States Census Bureau (USCB)

DOGE announced in May that it terminated five surveys from the USCB, without specifying which ones.

Defense DOGE met with Department of Defense (DOD) personnel on February 14, 2025. As of March, the cuts in staff were expected to impact up to 8% of its civilian workforce, or 61,000 employees.

In his West Point address on May 24, Trump said he wasn't cutting "10 cents" from DOD budget.

In June, DOD announced it would no longer provide critical satellite weather data to scientists and weather forecasters.

Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)

DOGE's cuts at the USACE has led to the closing of more than 425 Pennsylvania campsites.

Office of Naval Research

Rachel Riley has replaced Rear Admiral Kurt J. Rothenhaus as chief of the Office of Naval Research.

Education

On February 6, The Washington Post reported that DOGE staff fed sensitive data from ED into an AI to cut any spending, including contracts, declared "not essential to operations or required by law." DOGE members Adam Ramada, Alexandra Beynon, and Brooks Morgan were involved in the project. Around that time, DOGE had access to data on federal student aid, including the personal financial information on the more than 42 million people who receive student loans from the government, and Akash Bobba along with Ethan Shaotran, both 22 years old, had administrator-level status in ED's email system; Shaotran has reportedly accessed the back end of the ed.gov. DOGE had taken over the VIP offices on the seventh floor of the D.C. headquarters by February 12.

On February 26, ED stopped accepting and processing all income-driven repayment plans and consolidation applications for at least 3 months. Such plans are designed to keep payments affordable for student borrowers, and provide a path to student loan forgiveness. In March, it was reported that ED would lay off "about 50%" of its workforce, about 2,200 workers.

Institute of Education Sciences (IES)

On February 10, DOGE said it terminated contracts funded by IES totalling $900 million, including contracts involving student resources that were in-progress. The IES funds research to examine the effectiveness of current education policies and systems. Many contractors involved in maintaining the research database were also terminated. The institute is "all but shut down."

Energy

On February 5, 2025, the Department of Energy (DOE) secretary, Chris Wright, against guidance of the General Counsel and chief information officers, allowed Luke Farritor access to DOE information systems. CNN quoted DOE staff in the general counsel and chief information offices as calling Farritor's access a "bad idea", and that "He's not cleared to be in DOE, on our systems."

National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)

Farritor's access included systems to the NNSA . On February 13, 350 NNSA employees who secure and guard America's nuclear arsenal, including about 100 employees of Pantex, the primary United States nuclear weapons assembly and disassembly facility, were fired due to DOGE. The next day, all but 28 of those firings were rescinded by NNSA acting director Teresa Robbins. The agency sought to rehire the workers the next day. An Energy Department spokesperson said fewer than 50 were fired.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)

According to ProPublica, Nicholas Gallagher, a DOGE affiliate at the General Services Administration, was involved in conversations about overhauling environmental rules.

Health and Human Services

By February 5, 2025, DOGE gained access to financial systems at HHS (HHS). Systems accessed include the Healthcare Integrated General Ledger Accounting System (HIGLAS), which require privacy protections training under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

On March 3, HHS employees were told they could apply for early retirement over the next ten days. They were also instructed to comply with DOGE's emailed request to list their accomplishments from the past week, but to do so without revealing sensitive information. In mid-march, the staff responsible for the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) was told that at least 80% of them will be terminated.☀Medical Expenditure Panel Survey|archive-url=

In March 2025, DOGE cancelled $877 million in HHS grants to the Texas Department of Health and $482 million in HHS grants to the Florida Department of Health.

DOGE froze billions in healthcare grants in April, to review them under a program it called "Defend the spend".

In May, Wired reported that all contracts for agencies under the HHS umbrella need to go through a new approval process called the Departmental Efficiency Review (DER)

In June, HHS officials were told to resume the previous process for grants.gov, and to not route through DOGE staff.

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's staff was cut by 75%.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)