Trump Orders Establishment of the Department of Government Efficiency
Published by The Lawfare Institute
in Cooperation With
One of President Trump’s first-day executive orders established the much anticipated “Department Of Government Efficiency” to implement the president’s so-called “DOGE Agenda,” which includes “modernizing Federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity.”
The order renames the United States Digital Service—a unit focused on improving federal government services—to United States DOGE Service (maintaining the USDS acronym). It also establishes a “temporary organization” within USDS, headed by the USDS administrator to advance the “DOGE Agenda.” The temporary organization is slated to terminate on July 4, 2026.
Within 30 days of the order, every agency head is expected to establish a “DOGE team” within their agency, composed of at least “one DOGE Team Lead, one engineer, one human resources specialist, and one attorney.” The team may also include Special Government Employees.
These teams will advance a “Software Modernization Initiative to improve the quality and efficiency of government-wide software, network infrastructure, and information technology (IT) systems.” One of the objectives is to “promote inter-operability between agency networks and systems, ensure data integrity, and facilitate responsible data collection and synchronization.”
The order also grants USDS “full and prompt access to all unclassified agency records, software systems, and IT systems.” Any prior executive orders or regulations subject to direct presidential amendment that could pose a barrier to USDS’s access are displaced.
Read the order here or below:
