Under the Executive Order, Doge teams, which will “typically include a Doge Team Lead, an engineer, a human resources specialist, and a lawyer” will be sent to various agencies. They will be given “access to all declassified agency records, software systems, and IT systems,” with the goal of streamlining data sharing across federal agencies.
A former USDS employee who spoke to Wired on condition of anonymity called repurposing the digital service an “A+ bureaucratic jiu-jitsu move.” But, they said, they are concerned that Doge's access to sensitive information could be used to do more than streamline government operations.
“Will this technical talent be directed at using data from the federal government to track adversaries?” They asked. “To track specific populations of interest to this administration for the purposes of either targeting them or singling them out or whatever it might end up being?”
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It appears, however, that the First Order of the Doge is to remove people from agencies who may push back on the Trump administration's agenda, Starting with existing USDS staffand hire new people.
“The Doge teams have a lawyer, an HR director, and an engineer. If you want to identify the functions to cut, the people to cut, having an HR director there and having having a lawyer say, 'Here's what we're allowed to do or not do,' would be a way for you to facilitate that,” said Don Moynihan, a professor of public policy at the University of Michigan, who noted the potential Doge's access to federal data employees can put “them in some kind of crosshairs to be fired.”
When Musk took over Twitter, he brought in outside help from him Close the circle as well as his other companies To change the company, a Move he will appear to repeat.
Who exactly will be part of the Doge is a particularly slippery issue since there are technically two dogs. One is the permanent organization, the revamped USDS – now the US DOGE service. The other is a temporary organization, with an end date of July 4, 2026. The creation of this organization means that the temporary doge can operate under a special set of rules. It can recruit employees from other parts of the government, and can also accommodate people who want to work for the government as volunteers. Temporary organizations may also hire what are known as special government employees – experts in a given field who can bypass the rigors of regular federal hiring processes. They are also not subject to the same transparency requirements as other government employees.
In the best case scenario, this will allow the Doge to move quickly to address issues and fast-track the talent needed, as well as build systems that make government services seamless by facilitating information and data flow. But in the worst case, this could mean less transparency around the interests of people working on important government projects, while enabling possible surveillance.
