Gibson Dunn – Client Alert  |  February 4, 2025 – “Ever since President Trump announced that he would create a Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), clients have raised questions regarding how it would be established, what powers it would have, and how its work could affect their operations. Gibson Dunn previously addressed some of those questions in a December 6, 2024 client alert based on information available at the time.  Now that President Trump has taken office, more details are coming to light.  In one of his first acts as president, on January 20, 2025, Trump signed an executive order titled “Establishing and Implementing the President’s ‘Department of Government Efficiency’” (the Order), which brings additional clarity regarding some of the key questions about DOGE and raises others, as discussed below.  In addition, recent administration actions, such as freezing (and subsequently unfreezing) federal spending and deferred resignation offers to federal employees suggest that the DOGE is having an impact.

I. Formal Establishment of DOGE as USDS – Initially, then President-elect Trump said DOGE would operate from outside the government.  Much ink was spilled on whether DOGE would be a federal advisory committee (FAC) governed by the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), a non-profit entity, or some other kind of non-governmental organization.  With the Order, however, he has established DOGE as a federal government entity operating out of the Executive Office of the President (EOP).  The Order renames the U.S. Digital Service, an existing government entity also established by presidential directive, as the U.S. DOGE Service.  For the sake of clarity, this Alert will refer to the new U.S. DOGE Service as “USDS” and the former U.S. Digital Service by its full name.  The U.S. Digital Service appears to have been an attractive office to replace with DOGE for several reasons.  As a matter of optics, using the USDS as a vehicle for DOGE minimizes perception that this is an entirely new office.  The office comes with an established funding stream.  And the U.S. Digital Service was part of the Office of Management and Budget, with which DOGE is working closely both to gather information across the government and to implement recommendations. The U.S. Digital Service’s mission to improve federal government technology also aligns with at least some of DOGE’s goals.  President Obama created the U.S. Digital Service after private sector technology experts saved HealthCare.gov in the wake of its failed initial launch. Its purpose was to import “private sector best practices to the Federal Government.’  Its projects have included improvements to SSA.gov, building COVID-19 vaccine finder tools, simplifying VA.gov, and improving government technology procurement. According to the Order, the purpose of the new USDS is to “implement the President’s DOGE Agenda, by modernizing Federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity.”…