As tech billionaire Elon Musk prepares to launch the new Department of Government Efficiency, answers are starting to emerge regarding how the cost-cutting agency will operate — but government watchdog groups say the agency’s purported scope and its level of transparency raise even more questions.
An executive order signed by President Donald Trump on Monday said that DOGE will be established within the Executive Office of the President, as a temporary 18-month organization under the repurposed United States Digital Service, now called the United States DOGE Service (USDS).
Notably, the executive order laid out only a narrow role for DOGE: to modernize “federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity,” contrary to the sweeping mission to gut the federal government that Trump and Musk have promoted for months.
Some ethics experts expressed concerns that the agency’s narrow agenda as described in the executive order could be an attempt to avoid regulations under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, a 1972 law that subjects advisory committees to a specific authorization process within a clear scope of the committee’s activities, and to disclose its meetings and records to the public.
“One thing that needs to be focused on is whether DOGE operates in a way that is consistent with that narrow executive order,” said ethics director Kedric Payne of the Campaign Legal Center watchdog group.
“The executive order makes it look like their mission is very narrow, but in reality, the DOGE agenda seems to be much broader. And if they start fulfilling that true DOGE agenda, then that will indicate that they may not be operating within the compliance of the executive order. It may be subject to the federal law that applies to advisory committees, which will trigger other disclosure requirements,” he said.
Trump officially announced DOGE back in November, tapping Musk and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy to head the operation from “outside of government” — sparking concerns from some ethics experts over a possible lack of disclosures from two wealthy businessmen with deep financial interests.
Tesla, SpaceX and X CEO Elon Musk gestures as he speaks during an inauguration event, Jan. 20, 2025 in Washington.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Most high-ranking federal officials, including cabinet secretaries and top White House officials, are required to publicly disclose their personal finances to ensure transparency and to inform the public of any financial ties related to or unrelated to their official roles.
But despite Trump’s executive order laying out some aspects of how DOGE will be structured and operated, it’s still unclear what, if any, public disclosure requirements Musk and his deputies will be bound by as they work closely with the White House and various agencies to carry out the potentially far-reaching mission of slashing the federal government.
“The Trump executive order provides little detail and even less assurance that Elon Musk and DOGE employees will comply with appropriate ethical and transparency guidelines which is why we will continue to pursue all legal avenues to bring the DOGE’s activities into compliance,” executive director and chief counsel Donald Sherman of the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) wrote in a statement.
Musk, for his part, has promised to be open about DOGE’s undertakings, posting on X shortly after Trump’s November announcement that “All actions of the Department of Government Efficiency will be posted online for maximum transparency.”
“The transition team will ensure the Department of Government Efficiency and those involved with it are compliant with all legal guidelines related to conflicts of interest,” Trump transition spokesperson Brian Hughes told ABC News in November.
Ramaswamy recently departed DOGE, but Musk has continued to exert his presence in the Trump White House, including being spotted at the White House in the West Wing this week, sources told ABC News. Musk is also said to have a blue badge, which is essentially an all-access pass, and an office space in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, situated next door to the White House. Sources told ABC News that Musk is also likely to get West Wing office space.
Trump’s executive order suggests that DOGE will be headed by the United States DOGE Service administrator, who is set to report to White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, but it’s unclear if Musk will be the new USDS administrator. The previous United States Digital Service administrator, Mina Hsiang, publicly disclosed her certificate of divestiture but not her full personal financial disclosure.
The executive order also indicted that some DOGE staff members could be brought in as special government employees, which are required to file their personal financial disclosures for the Office of Government Ethics’ reviews but don’t have to make those disclosures public — and that DOGE staffers will be deployed in each agency to help agencies implement its agenda.
The Campaign Legal Center’s Payne said that if Musk and other DOGE staffers are classified as special government employees, at least they would go through the Office of Government Ethics’ rigorous internal vetting process, even if their finances are not publicly disclosed.
Earlier this week, CREW, the law firm National Security Counselors, and several other watchdog groups filed one of several lawsuits demanding transparency from DOGE and arguing that it should be subject to the Federal Advisory Committee Act.
“Laws have meaning, workers have rights, and real reform requires real accountability,” National Security Counselors attorney Jerald Lentini told ABC News in a statement.
The lawsuit asks the court to find that DOGE is not properly constituted, and to permanently enjoin Musk, Ramaswamy “and all of DOGE’S subunits from holding further meetings, sessions, or hearings, or conducting any official business whatsoever on behalf of DOGE.”
“President Trump and his team have bent over backwards to ensure that his billionaire donor Elon Musk can operate DOGE without input from, or transparency with, the millions of everyday Americans whose lives and livelihoods can be impacted by the DOGE’s recommendations,” CREW’s Sherman wrote.
Musk, responding to the news of the lawsuits, posted on X, “Can someone start a lawsuit counter? How long until we hit triple digits?”