Author: Chairman Rabbit; Source: WeChat public account tuzhuxi
Here is some analysis on the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) that Trump appointed Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to head:
1. Despite the name, which contains the word "department", it is not a government agency, but an external consulting agency. The reason for setting up an agency outside the government is that only Congress has the power to set up government departments and allocate budgets. This requires legislative action from Congress. Therefore, the simplest and quickest way is to set up a consulting agency outside the federal government to provide consulting services to the government. Musk has sufficient financial resources to fund this agency and does not need to rely on congressional/government funding.
2. The name is just a meme that Musk likes (Akita dog doge). The virtual currency that Musk strongly promotes is also called Dogecoin. The word "department" gave rise to the letter "D"
3. External consulting/advisory agencies are very common. There are thousands of such consulting agencies at the federal level alone. Some of these agencies are funded by the federal government and Congress, while others are independently funded by the private sector; some include government employees, while others are purely private organizations. At the federal level, there is a special law (The Federal Advisory Committee Act) responsible for relevant supervision. Considering Musk's financial resources, this consulting project does not need to rely on financial support from the federal government or Congress. The reasonable logic is that the clearer the boundary with the government, the better, so that it can be started and opened at any time without being managed and restricted by relevant laws.
4. Since this organization is outside the government system, Musk and Vivek will not become "government employees" - at least Musk will not. He just devotes part of his time to do one thing.
5. This external advisory agency will work with the support and cooperation of the OMB (Office of Management and Budget) of the White House. OMB is part of the White House, and its traditional function is to assist the federal government in budget management and coordinate and communicate with Congress on related matters. It is impossible for DOGE to work behind closed doors and outside the government system. The OMB has sufficient authority to obtain accurate information about the budget, and can link to all federal government agencies, all relevant committees and important members of Congress, as well as various external consulting think tanks. With the support of OMB, DOGE can carry out its work effectively.
6. Musk claims that he will cut more than 400 federal government agencies to less than 100, reducing the federal government budget by $2 trillion. Some people think that Musk has enough authority to cut departments and employees as drastically as corporate layoffs. This is not the case: all these federal government agencies (and their budgets) were created by Congress in the form of legislation to meet specific functions; the basic budgets of these agencies are also determined by Congress. Everything has a legal basis and cannot be "cut at will". It must ultimately go through congressional procedures.
7. So the “correct way to open” (and DOGE’s working logic) should be:
1) Study the underlying laws on which all institutions are based: Why did (Congress) establish these institutions? What were their backgrounds, original intentions, purposes, and goals?
2) Study which federal government functions overlap, that is, multiple agencies "overlap" to supervise the same thing. In this case, the functions should be clarified, optimized and streamlined.
3) Study which federal government agencies (and their underlying legislation) are no longer "up to date" and are no longer needed, so they can be cut. As Musk said, if the government system only adds but never subtracts, then the government and legislative system will only get bigger and bigger, with more and more laws, until nothing can be done. So cuts must be made regularly, just like weeding the backyard.
4) From the perspective of "deregulation", "less regulation" and "small government", study which federal government agencies can be further streamlined. Please note that this involves value judgments: for example, some government functions may be considered necessary by the Democratic Party/left, but MAGA/Republicans believe that they are unnecessary and recommend reductions. This is the same as a company. For example, do DEI (diversity) and CSR (corporate social responsibility) parts have to exist? Some people think they need to exist, while others think they don't. Musk/MAGA's values tend to be inclined to cut these parts
5) Finally, at the process level, assuming that an institution has functional importance, it can and should exist, so further research is needed to find out how to reduce budgets by streamlining staffing and optimizing processes (including introducing technology to empower)
6) Then, DOGE will submit a comprehensive recommendation report to the White House (and Congress). After Congress agrees, substantial department cuts and budget reductions will be completed through congressional legislative actions.
8. Musk claims to cut 300 federal government departments and reduce the budget by $2 trillion. The reality is that $2 trillion corresponds to nothing more than wages and procurement; 300 government departments involve countless civil servants, which are their jobs. After large-scale layoffs, these people may lose their jobs and may not be able to find jobs with the same income. In terms of government procurement, after many departments were cut, there was no more procurement, and this part of the demand no longer existed. For those who still have procurement needs, Musk's direction is to further streamline spending. For example, he believes that the federal government has too few bids, and more than 80% are targeted procurement, which may contain a lot of corruption and tricks. If a competitive mechanism is introduced, the budget can be reduced. But in any case, the US GDP is only more than 20 trillion US dollars, and 2 trillion US dollars is already part of the US economy and society. Large-scale cuts are equivalent to large-scale industrial restructuring (for example, China's real estate/construction industry directly accounts for 13~14% of GDP). So the situation will only be more complicated than Musk imagined.
9. Timing considerations: Trump said that DOGE’s work will be completed by July 4, 2026, “giving a big gift package to the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States.” The key time points to consider here are: the new Congress (119th) will start on January 3, 2025 and end on January 3, 2027. The mid-term elections will be held in November 2026. The results of the mid-term elections are uncertain, and the Republican Party cannot guarantee 100% control. In reverse, DOGE’s work will be completed by mid-2026, and recommendations will be made to Congress. The Republican Party should step up its efforts while it still controls both houses and make a final decision. President Reagan also promoted a similar government streamlining plan. The committee he appointed made 2,500 recommendations to the White House and Congress, but few of them were ultimately adopted. This time, Trump-Musk must not want to repeat the mistakes of the past, but to make a final decision.
