In a newly issued executive order (EO), the Trump administration directed the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the initiative of Elon Musk, to reduce government spending, and directed every agency to create a “centralized technology system” to record contracts and award awards.
As part of ramp up these systems, agents’ employees who have approved individual contracts and payments for grants must submit written justifications for approval. Delegates can “suspend and promptly review” payments that the approved employees have not submitted justifications in accordance with the EO.
EO also, with the support of DOGE, directs its agent managers to create a system that “centrically records” approvals for federally funded travel for meetings and other “non-essential” purposes. Once the system is in place, agents’ employees must submit in writing “not required” justification for meeting travel expenses, following the order text.
The move is the latest expansion of Doge’s already extensive authority to review federal spending activities. Earlier this month, Doge sent an email to federal employees asking them to outline what they had achieved at work last week or face termination. Reportedly, Doge plans to feed the content to AI algorithms to determine whether someone’s work is mission-critical.
Doge was founded under EO signed by President Trump on January 20th, renamed US digital services to Doge and appointed a team of “special government officials” across federal agencies. Doge is made up of a group of Musk’s businesses and peers, mostly young and private sector employees, leaving open questions about whether cybersecurity and privacy practices are being followed.
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