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United States DOGE Service

Coordinates: 38°53′59″N 77°02′17″W / 38.899614°N 77.038026°W / 38.899614; -77.038026
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Not to be confused with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
United States DOGE Service
Agency overview
FormedAugust 11, 2014 (2014-08-11)
Headquarters736 Jackson Place, Washington, D.C., United States
38°53′59″N 77°02′17″W / 38.899614°N 77.038026°W / 38.899614; -77.038026
Parent departmentExecutive Office of the President of the United States
Child agency
Websitewww.usds.gov

The United States DOGE Service (USDS), formerly the United States Digital Service,[1] is a technology unit[2][3] housed within the Executive Office of the President of the United States. It provides consultation services to federal agencies on information technology.

Initially established by former President Barack Obama on August 11, 2014, to improve and simplify digital service, and to improve federal websites,[4][5][6][7] the unit was renamed to United States DOGE Service by President Donald Trump on January 20, 2025, and the U.S. DOGE Service Temporary Organization was established under it to "implement the President's DOGE Agenda".[1]

Activities

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USDS has created:

  • A Digital Services Playbook, for improving digital government[8]
  • Draft Web Design Standards, "to build accessible, mobile-friendly government websites"[9]
  • TechFAR Handbook,[10] on federal contracting and procurement[11][12]
  • Discovery Sprint Guide[13]

The USDS sends a report to Congress each year detailing its projects and accomplishments.[14] Its federal agency work spans across the Veterans Affairs, Department of Defense, Small Business Administration, General Services Administration, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Education, and Health and Human Services.

History

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As U.S. Digital Service

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For years, people both inside and outside of government were working on ways to make government more effective, using technology and design. This included the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Code for America, Government Digital Service in the U.K., and other U.S. government entities. The idea took more concrete shape when Jennifer Pahlka, having visited the United Kingdom's Government Digital Service,[15] joined the Chief Technology Office of the United States and converged her ideas and with what was already underway in the United States Government. The HealthCare.gov technology crisis accelerated the idea and served as the United States Digital Service's first project.

The first head of the USDS was Mikey Dickerson, a former Google engineer who was involved in the 2013–14 rescue of the HealthCare.gov website.[16] He was succeeded by Matt Cutts, who maintained the position until April 2021.[17]

The third administrator of the USDS was Mina Hsiang.[18][19][20] During the Biden administration, Hsiang led the USDS in deploying a new website about COVID-19 vaccines.[21]

In 2021, the USDS employed 215 people and was looking to expand further.[22]

Accomplishments as the USDS:

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  • For Health and Human Services COVID‑19 vaccine finder tools were created. Which includes two websites, a chatbot, and a multilingual call center. These helped people find life saving vaccines. With over 184 million visitors to Vaccines.gov and Vacunas.gov. These websites are operated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
  • Across the whole of government the USDS modernized the way government buys technology. A program was launched that trains contracting officers best practices and how to purchase modern technology, which helps projects be delivered on time, under budget, and designed with the end user in mind. Four hundred people graduated the Digital IT Acquisition Professional Training Program by the end of FY 2020. With 9 agencies getting better contracts due to these courses. The USDS also helped educated families about the Earned income tax credit and Child Tax Credit using the ChildTaxCredit.gov that over fourty one thousand users used as tool to find free tax filing services and receive expanded tax benefits. This encouraged families to file a tax return and helped cause a 25% reduction in food insecurity among low income families who received the Child Tax Credit. The USDS also helped change the way technical talent is hired by the government. a new hiring process was championed that used fair and open access for all applicants, while shortening the hiring timeline, and ensuring those hired were qualified. Thirteen applicants were hired at the Department of the Interior, with a change in hiring time down from fourteen to sixteen days on average.
  • The USDS and the Office of the Chief Technology Officer together built the new VA.gov website for the Veterans Affairs, which was built with the input over 5,000 veteran, service members, and family members. Customer satisfactions for using the VA.gov website rose on average from 53 to 69%, the website sees over 1.7 million logins per month.
  • Homeland Security worked with the USDS to build a digital system to allow immigrants to apply and track applications online, and process them digitally. This led to 100% of naturalization applications being processed electronically.[23][24]

Other Digital Services were created and modeled after the United States Digital Service:

As U.S. DOGE Service

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On January 20, 2025, President Trump issued an executive order renaming the United States Digital Service as the United States DOGE Service, where DOGE stands for Department of Government Efficiency. The order established an organization within USDS, called the U.S. DOGE Service Temporary Organization (USDSTO), and tasked it with "advancing the President's 18-month DOGE agenda". The order requires every agency to create a DOGE team of at least four employees in consultation with USDS to implement the president's DOGE agenda.[1]

Trump initially announced that DOGE would be co-led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, though Ramaswamy stepped away from the project before it began, in order to prepare for running for governor in Ohio.[27] As of February 2025, Musk has not stepped aside from his private business roles as owner of X Corp. and CEO of Tesla, Inc. and SpaceX,[28] and lacks a formal public title in DOGE or within the federal government. Nevertheless, numerous outlets have reported that DOGE is a Musk-led initiative.[29][30][31][32]

Legality

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The legality of DOGE is unsettled. The nonpartisan Congressional Research Service identified several legal issues, including whether and how Congress will fund appropriations for DOGE, whether legacy USDS projects already funded by Congress will be continued, and whether DOGE is or will be subject to federal transparency laws (Freedom of Information Act and Federal Advisory Committee Act), records laws (Privacy Act of 1974), and ethics and conflict-of-interest laws (Ethics in Government Act).[33]

At least three lawsuits have been filed in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia; they allege that DOGE is an advisory committee and violates the Federal Advisory Committee Act.[34]

Conflicts with federal agencies over computer systems

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Musk and DOGE have clashed with congressionally-established federal agencies over access to computer systems and data.

Reuters reported on January 31 that "aides to Elon Musk" had locked some career civil servants out of computer systems at the Office of Personnel Management, the federal government's human resources department that maintains details on 2.2 million workers.[35] That same day, multiple sources reported that David Lebryk, a top Treasury Department career civil servant, was pushed out after he refused to grant DOGE access to a system that disburses $5.4 trillion in payments annually, including Social Security, government paychecks and contractor payments. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent granted DOGE access to the system later that day.[36][37][38] The New York Times described it as a possible attempt by Trump to "unilaterally restrict disbursement of money approved for specific purposes by Congress" following his earlier funding freeze. It also reported that DOGE had demanded access to other technology systems at other agencies across the federal government.[31]

On February 1, members of DOGE gained access to classified information of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) without sufficient security clearances.[39] DOGE personnel demanded to be let into USAID headquarters and threatened to call the US Marshals,[30] which by law receive their direction from the Attorney General and the Director of the United States Marshals Service.[40][41] Two top security chiefs at USAID tried to deny DOGE access to the classified material, as they were "legally obligated" to do, and were placed on leave by the Trump administration.[39] The next day, Musk tweeted without evidence that USAID was a "criminal organization" and that it was "[t]ime for it to die".[30]

Freezing of federal funds

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After gaining access to the Treasury's payments system, Musk announced that DOGE was "shutting down" payments to Lutheran Family Services, a faith-based charity that provides social services to refugees.[42]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "Establishing and Implementing the President's "Department of Government Efficiency"" (PDF). Federal Register. 90 (14). Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration: 8441–8442. 29 January 2025.
  2. ^ Zakrzewski, Cat (5 December 2018). "The government's tech unit is trying to reduce wait times for asylum seekers". The Washington Post.
  3. ^ Lapowsky, Issie (2019-03-14). "Kamala Harris Wants to Give States Millions to Overhaul Tech". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2019-03-14.
  4. ^ "FACT SHEET: Improving and Simplifying Digital Service". The White House. 2014-08-11. Retrieved 2015-04-19.
  5. ^ Scola, Nancy (2014-08-11). "White House launches 'U.S. Digital Service,' with HealthCare.gov fixer at the helm". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2015-04-19.
  6. ^ Howard, Alex (August 13, 2014). "New US Digital Service Looks to Avoid IT Catastrophes". TechPresident. Archived from the original on August 21, 2014.
  7. ^ Shear, Michael D (August 11, 2014). "White House Picks Engineer From Google to Fix Sites". The New York Times. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
  8. ^ "The Digital Services Playbook — from the U.S. Digital Service". playbook.usds.gov. Retrieved 2025-01-28.
  9. ^ "USWDS: The United States Web Design System". U.S. Web Design System (USWDS). Retrieved 2025-01-28.
  10. ^ "The TechFAR Handbook — from the U.S. Digital Service". playbook.usds.gov. Retrieved 2025-01-28.
  11. ^ Scola, Nancy (August 25, 2014). "How the U.S. Digital Service could upset D.C.'s 'IT vendor ecosystem'". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
  12. ^ Rockwell, Mark (March 13, 2015). "OFPP launches podcast series to talk TechFAR, playbook". FCW Insider. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
  13. ^ "Discovery Sprint Guide". U.S. Digital Service. Retrieved November 24, 2021.
  14. ^ "United States Digital Service". United States Digital Service. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
  15. ^ Levy, Steven (January 18, 2017). "The Final Days of Obama's Tech Surge". Wired Magazine. Retrieved November 10, 2018.
  16. ^ Brill, Stephen (February 17, 2014). "Obama's Trauma Team". Time Magazine. Retrieved April 19, 2015. (subscription required)
  17. ^ Cutts, Matt (April 14, 2021). "The Next Chapter for USDS". U.S. Digital Service. Retrieved August 20, 2021 – via Medium.
  18. ^ "Office of Management and Budget Announces Mina Hsiang As New Administrator of the United States Digital Service". The White House. September 2, 2021. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
  19. ^ "Mina Hsiang appointed USDS administrator". FedScoop. September 2, 2021. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
  20. ^ "Introducing the Administrator of the U.S. Digital Service: Mina Hsiang". U.S. Digital Service. September 2, 2021. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
  21. ^ "Exclusive: New boss for government's tech "SWAT team"". Axios. September 2, 2021.
  22. ^ "Great Resignation boosts White House's tech talent hunt". Axios. January 18, 2022.
  23. ^ "Press sheet Spring 2023" (PDF). USDS Press sheet. United States Digital Service. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2025-01-21. Retrieved 22 January 2025.
  24. ^ "USDS Impact Report 2024" (PDF). Impact Report 2024. United States Digital Service. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2025-01-21. Retrieved 22 January 2025.
  25. ^ Wood, Colin (2020-08-13). "Florida State Rep. James Grant to become state's new CIO". StateScoop. Retrieved 2024-05-08.
  26. ^ "Colorado Digital Service, First Five Years | Office of Information Technology". oit.colorado.gov. Retrieved 2025-01-22.
  27. ^ "How Trump's Department of Government Efficiency Will Work". The New York Times. January 21, 2025. Retrieved February 2, 2025.
  28. ^ "Elon Musk's business conflicts draw scrutiny amid White House role". The Washington Post. January 24, 2025. Retrieved February 2, 2025.
  29. ^ "Elon Musk's Doge team granted 'full access' to federal payment system". The Guardian. February 2, 2025. Retrieved February 2, 2025.
  30. ^ a b c Hansler, Jennifer; Marquardt, Alex (February 2, 2025). "Senior USAID security officials put on leave after refusing Musk's DOGE access to agency systems". CNN. Retrieved February 2, 2025.
  31. ^ a b Duehren, Andrew; Haberman, Maggie; Schleifer, Theodore; Rappeport, Alan (February 1, 2025). "Elon Musk's Team Now Has Access to Treasury's Payments System". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 2, 2025.
  32. ^ "Musk team given access to sensitive federal payment system - reports". BBC. February 2, 2025. Retrieved February 2, 2025.
  33. ^ "Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Executive Order: Early Implementation". Congressional Research Service. January 27, 2025. Retrieved February 2, 2025.
  34. ^ "Elon Musk's DOGE Faces Trio of Lawsuits Following Trump's Inauguration". Democracy Docket. January 21, 2025. Retrieved February 2, 2025.
  35. ^ Reid, Tim (January 31, 2025). "Exclusive: Musk aides lock government workers out of computer systems at US agency, sources say". Reuters.
  36. ^ Duehren, Andrew; Rappeport, Alan; Schleifer, Theodore; Swan, Jonathan; Haberman, Maggie (January 31, 2025). "Treasury Official Quits After Resisting Musk's Requests on Payments". The New York Times.
  37. ^ Stein, Jeff; Arnsdorf, Isaac; Alemany, Jacqueline (January 31, 2025). "Senior U.S. official exits after rift with Musk allies over payment system". The Washington Post.
  38. ^ Polantz, Katelyn; Mattingly, Phil; Sneed, Tierney (January 31, 2025). "How an arcane Treasury Department office became ground zero in the war over federal spending". CNN.
  39. ^ a b Knickmeyer, Ellen (February 2, 2025). "USAID security leaders on leave after trying to keep Musk's DOGE from classified info, officials say". Associated Press. Retrieved February 2, 2025.
  40. ^ "Who We Are". U.S. Marshals Service. Retrieved February 2, 2025.
  41. ^ "28 U.S. Code § 561". Legal Information Institute (Cornell Law School). Retrieved February 2, 2025.
  42. ^ Korte, Gregory; Dendrinou, Viktoria (February 2, 2025). "Musk Says DOGE Halting Treasury Payments to US Contractors". Bloomberg. Retrieved February 2, 2025.
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