What is DOGE? What to know about the Elon Musk-led organization upending federal agencies

Created by President Donald Trump and run by tech-billionaire Elon Musk, the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, has consistently been in the headlines for the major changes it is making to the federal government.

Musk has promised that he would cut trillions off of the federal budget. During a Trump rally at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Oct. 27, Musk said he could slash the federal budget by trillions.

Earlier this year, Musk told political strategist Mark Penn that the figure of $2 trillion was a “best-case outcome,” instead suggesting there is a “good shot” at cutting close to $1 trillion instead.

As DOGE continues to make cuts, several Democrats have criticized the actions of Musk and the agency. It is also facing several legal challenges.

Here's what to know about DOGE.

What is the Department of Government Efficiency?

The Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, which refers to a cryptocurrency championed by Musk, was set up by Trump in an executive action on his first day in office.

DOGE, run by Musk, has been tasked with finding ways to cut spending and regulations.

Trump recently made Musk a "special government employee," an official told USA TODAY, and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt later confirmed to reporters that Musk had officially joined the administration.

The designation allows Musk to work for the federal government with or without compensation for a limited amount of time. He also received a government email and an office. The administration official said Musk would not receive a paycheck.

“This will send shockwaves through the system, and anyone involved in Government waste, which is a lot of people!” Musk said in a statement distributed by the Trump transition team in November.

Trump renamed the previously existing United States Digital Service, which was created under former President Barack Obama following the rollout of Healthcare.gov, to the Department of Government Efficiency.

DOGE headed by Musk, run by young adults

According to reporting from Wired, Musk has enlisted several young engineers to help in his mission to cut the federal budget.

The outlet said that the engineers, whose ages range between 19-24, have little-to-no government experience. Several lawsuits have been recently lodged against DOGE over the access the engineers have been alleged to have had to the U.S. Treasury Department’s payment systems.

Reports emerged over the weekend that Musk's DOGE operatives were at the Treasury, going through the payment systems and that they had effectively ousted the top civil servant at the Treasury Department, David Lebryk, after he refused to grant access to Musk’s emissaries.

Other reports have also emerged which said that DOGE representatives have been at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services this week examining payment and contracting systems of federal health agency.

DOGE met with fierce opposition from Democrats, watchdog groups

Democratic lawmakers and government watchdog groups are pledging to fight back against Elon Musk’s takeover of the federal government's payment system, which they say may be the biggest privacy and security breach in American history.

"If we were watching this happen in Venezuela or Malawi and we saw a billionaire seize the money supply and the checkbook of the government, we would call it a coup," said Lindsay Owens, executive director of the Groundwork Collaborative economic policy group and a former Senate senior economic policy advisor.

In a lawsuit filed on Monday in a Washington D.C. federal court, advocates for employee unions and retirees said Treasury had violated privacy laws by giving access to both Musk and DOGE to government payment systems.

“We are outraged and alarmed that the Trump Administration has allowed so-called DOGE staff to violate the law and access millions of older Americans’ sensitive personal and financial data,” Richard Fiesta, executive director of the Alliance for Retired Americans, said in a press release sent to USA TODAY.

Contributing: Reuters, Francesca Chambers, Josh Meyer and Ken Alltucker, USA TODAY.

Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach him at fernando.cervantes@gannett.com and follow him on X @fern_cerv_.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What is DOGE? What to know about the Elon Musk-run government agency