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Elon Musk departs the office of Senate Minority Whip and incoming Senate Republican Leader-elect John Thune (R-SD) after a meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S. December 5, 2024.
GZERO Explains: How will DOGE work?
How will it work? The executive order requires every federal agency to hire at least four DOGE employees – a team lead, engineer, human resources specialist, and attorney – to identify potential spending, regulations, or jobs that can be slashed. Musk has said he aims to cut $2 trillion from the $6.75 trillion federal budget. How it will determine what can be cut has not been made public.
Can DOGE actually fire people? Right now, DOGE appears likely to operate in an advisory capacity to the White House, making recommendations to the Trump administration on where cuts might be made. When Trump implemented a hiring freeze on Jan. 20, he ordered the Office of Personnel and Management to work with DOGE to reduce the size of the government. Then, on Jan. 21, 2025, Trump reinstated Schedule F – a policy he tried to implement during his first term, only to see it rescinded by Joe Biden — reclassifying some policy-level federal employees as “at-will” employees. This strips them of some protections and makes it easier for Trump and his appointees to dismiss them.
Since then, anonymous reports from OPM employees claim that the agency is reporting to and issuing communications from DOGE staffers, making it appear that the two offices are working closely to reduce the number of federal employees.
Why does it matter? DOGE wants to modernize, and minimize, the federal government, which employed 2,260,ooo civilian employees as of 2023. However, it is expected to face backlash from judges, unions, federal employees, and the beneficiaries of services or agencies that are sent to the chopping block.