In an announcement yesterday, President Trump formally announced that Elon Musk would be co-chairing DOGE with former biotech CEO and Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to “cut government bureaucracy, cut unnecessary regulations, reduce wasteful spending, and reorganize federal agencies.”
But like many things in the world of politics and bureaucracy, this is easier said than done. With Republicans holding a majority in the Senate and expected to hold a majority in the House of Representatives, President Trump has a firmer base from which to push for a radical reorganization of the federal government. But significant changes still face hurdles, and it’s easy for this DOGE to end up being just empty talk.
Is DOGE a real ministry?
Creating a new ministry isn’t something the president can just do. That power is constitutionally in the hands of Congress. Sure Congress is largely under Republican control, but Congress has to act nonetheless.
President Trump’s statement yesterday about nominating Musk and Ramaswamy to co-lead DOGE seemed to acknowledge this, at least implicitly, saying DOGE would work with the White House and the Executive Office of the President to provide “advice and guidance from outside of government.” and not as an officail government arm.
This makes it likely that DOGE is just a committee in name only, with little real power to do anything other than make suggestions. Yes, there are suggestions that get to the president’s ear, but that’s not the same as a proper executive branch.
In other words, don’t expect Musk and Ramaswamy to simply eradicate “the massive waste and fraud inherent in $6.5 trillion in annual government spending,” as Trump suggested in his statement. In reality, DOGE is likely to be little more than an independent advisory committee, according to Robert Weissman, co-president of the advocacy group and think tank Public Citizen.
Weissman told the Register that “recommendations can be made, but whether President Trump can unilaterally act on those recommendations will depend on what those recommendations are,” Weissman explained. But abolishing the Department of Education still requires congressional approval.
Ultimately, Weissman asserted, “Congress is responsible for what changes President Trump recommends to DOGE.”
