Trump signs expansive DOGE executive order with Elon Musk in Oval Office

With Elon Musk standing beside him on Tuesday, President Donald Trump signed a new executive order implementing the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) workforce initiative. This marks an expansion of the original order establishing DOGE.

The order directs the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to submit a plan to reduce the size of the federal government’s workforce, under which agencies will be required to hire no more than one employee for every four employees that leave. The order noted that the hiring ratio does not affect the standing hiring freeze on the Internal Revenue Service, and does not apply to "functions related to public safety, immigration enforcement, or law enforcement."

The order also states that agencies should not fill vacancies for career appointments if the DOGE Team Lead determines that the role should not be filled, "unless the Agency Head determines the positions should be filled."

Agency heads should "promptly" prepare for large-scale reductions in force (RIF) and "to separate from Federal service temporary employees and reemployed annuitants working in areas that will likely be subject to the RIFs."

Offices that perform functions "not mandated by statute or other law shall" will be prioritized in these RIFs, "including all agency diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives; all agency initiatives, components, or operations that my Administration suspends or closes; and all components and employees performing functions not mandated by statute or other law who are not typically designated as essential during a lapse in appropriations as provided in the Agency Contingency Plans on the Office of Management and Budget website."

Speaking with reporters inside the Oval Office, Trump said that his administration has already found "billions" in waste since taking office. "Not like a little bit billions, many billions of dollars," Trump added, "and when you get down to it, it’s going to be probably close to a trillion dollars. It could be close to a trillion dollars that we’re going to find that will have quite an impact on the budget."

Trump said that President Biden was largely to blame for overextended government contracts and the large amount of work-from-home workers that has resulted in just 4 percent of some office buildings being occupied.