Tom Renz

🧵🧵DOGE - A Lawyer’s Perspective on the @elonmusk @realDonaldTrump Policy Centerpiece

I inherently do not trust the media so I decided to look into DOGE myself and see what is under the hood. Initially I was quite concerned about the legality of a “new agency” created by executive order but that - just like everything else - is a lie put out by the mainstream. The order is here and the thread is below:

@VigilantFox

To understand anything the government does it’s usually best to start with the law or something else I might be able to sue over… in this case the executive order itself was the thing to see.

As you can see this document is barely 2 pages and certainly not written in legalise. While not a complicated read - the plan was brilliant. Trump did NOT actually create a new agency. Instead what he did was repurpose an existing agency - the USDS - into something more useful. 

The USDS was an Obamacare office created to make government software better. They were essentially software development for the bureaucracy. Trump renamed the United States Digital Service (USDS) the United States DOGE Service which even kept the acronym the same. Not only did repurposing an appropriate existing department allow Trump to ensure there was funding for DOGE without having to fight with Congress - he also ensured its legality.

You see Trump has power to set priorities for Executive branch departments but there are limits. In the case of DOGE, Trump clearly had a team of lawyers looking at ways to accomplish this goal legally. 

USDS was already there and funded for the specific purpose. 44 USCS Chapter 36 is the law that facilitates much of USDS. It is generally about developing tech for the government. This means that focusing on efficiency and evaluating the entire government through the lens of the IT that runs it is not really substantially altering the agency - just its focus.

At the same time Trump also wanted to bring in @elonmusk (and at the time @VivekGRamaswamy) and his team for an initial major audit/clean sweep. To do this Trump referenced another law 5 USC 3161. This law governs the creation of and staffing for what is known as a “temporary organization” in the government. This group will focus on pushing the DOGE agenda and will exist for 18 months (though their work will survive). By including this group as temporary, Trump dodged several potential lawsuits as he may not have been able to create his own new administrative entity on a permanent basis without Congressional approval.

Trump also ordered that DOGE teams be hired in every administrative branch agency. These teams are to include a team lead, a lawyer, an HR person, and an engineer. These teams work for USDS (DOGE) but work with and within various agencies. While all this is part of a “software modernization initiative,” looking at the software and how things are managed is a great way to find out where there is waste - particularly when part of the mandate it to ensure efficiency.

The last part of the post is all important boilerplate. Trump orders all agencies to support the DOGE initiative, disclaims any other prior EOs that could interfere with this order, and makes a conflict of laws statement. This was further insulation to make this harder for political opponents to fight in court.

Last point. I don’t like that this has to be done and think the executive branch has far more authority than they should. That said, this order was very well done and Trump and Musk have really done a good job strategically here. Here’s to hoping these guys follow through on the MAGA/MAHA mandate that we the people have given and do everything possible to ensure the American people have the best future imaginable for our kids.