DOGE will allow Elon Musk to monitor the US government from the inside

According to the executive order, the DOGE teams, which “will typically include one DOGE team leader, one engineer, one human resources specialist, and one attorney,” will be sent to various agencies. They will be given “access to all unclassified agency records, software systems and IT systems,” ostensibly to streamline data sharing between federal agencies.

A former USDS employee, who spoke to WIRED on condition of anonymity, called the repurposing of the digital service “an A+ bureaucratic jiu-jitsu move.” But they say they are concerned that DOGE’s access to sensitive information could be used for more than just streamlining government operations.

“Will this technical talent be directed at using federal government data to track opponents?” they ask. “Go after specific populations of interest to this administration to either target them or isolate them or whatever?”

Any advice?

Are you a current or former employee of US Digital Services or another government agency affected by DOGE? We’d love to hear from you. Using a non-working phone or computer, contact Vitoria Elliott at vittoria_elliott@wired.com or sure on velliott88.18 on Signal.

However, it turns out that first row of DOGE is to weed out people in the agencies who might push back against the Trump administration’s agenda, starting with existing USDS staffand hire new people.

“DOGE teams have a lawyer, an HR director and an engineer. If you’re looking to identify functions to cut, people to cut, having an HR director there and the attorney saying, “Here’s what we’re allowed to do or not do,” would be one way to facilitate that. ,” said Don Moynihan, a professor of public policy at the University of Michigan, noting that DOGE’s potential access to federal employees’ data could put them “in some kind of crosshairs for firing.”

When Musk took over Twitter, he brought in outside help from his own close circle, as well as his other companies to convert the company, a a movement that seems to repeat itself.

Who exactly will be part of DOGE is a particularly difficult question because technically there are two DOGEs. One is the permanent organization, the revamped USDS—now the US DOGE Service. The other is a temporary organization with a termination date of July 4, 2026. The creation of this organization means that the interim DOGE can operate under a special set of rules. It can isolate officials from other parts of the government and it can also host people who want to work for the government as volunteers. Temporary organizations can also hire so-called special civil servants — experts in a given field who can bypass the rigors of regular federal hiring processes. They are also not subject to the same transparency requirements as other government officials.

At best, this would allow DOGE to move quickly to address issues and fast-track needed talent, as well as build systems that make government services more seamless by facilitating the flow of information and data. But at worst, it could mean less transparency around the interests of people working on important government projects, while still allowing for possible surveillance.