What is Doge? The US government department headed up by Elon Musk

It is a new public body, and a controversial one. Led by the richest man in the world, Elon Musk has vowed to crack down on American federal departments, saying he is looking for ways to improve efficiency and streamline services with an overall aim to slash federal spending. But since its formation on January 20 by President Donald Trump, some of the moves the new government department have made have come under fire.

Here is all we know about the White House's new organisation, the Department of Government Efficiency, otherwise known as DOGE. President Trump has been outspoken about his desire to revamp government services. Among his aims, he has said he wants to cut services that do not align with his policies and beliefs, as well as ensure staff and departments are working optimally and not squandering US dollars.

To do this, he has put his trusty aide in charge, billionaire and richest man in the world Elon Musk – who welcomed the role. Posting on his social media site, X, Mr Musk previously wrote: "@DOGE is trying to STOP your tax dollars from being stolen for WASTE and FRAUD.”. Mr Musk has said work began immediately. They have posted a stream of steady posts detailing all the contracts they have cancelled since being formed.

Some examples can be seen here:. But, since its formation in January, the government department has also raised concerns among the electorate and, in particular, the opposition: Democratic lawmakers. Senator Ron Wyden, a ranking member of the Senate’s Finance Committee, said: “The Bureau of the Fiscal Service processes payments for virtually every government agency. If this access is abused, millions of Americans could see disruptions to their benefits.”.

Critics also fear Mr Musk being in charge, considering he is also the beneficiary of a number of government contracts with work in sectors including his SpaceX company. They fear that by being at the helm of DOGE could pose conflicts of interest with his private businesses, and give him an advantage as he can potentially gain access to data about competitors' federal contracts. Mr Musk is now officially deemed to be a "special government employee” – an official government term.

The role was created officially as a way to enable the US government to bring in outside unelected expert help. The role can be either paid or unpaid but must be declared and, as Mr Musk is not being paid for his work, he doesn't need to file a public financial disclosure report. Unhappy with the move over treasury access, on February 3, federal unions launched a lawsuit to sue over DOGE gaining access to “sensitive records”.

Groups decided to sue President Trump’s administration over DOGE being granted “unheard-of access”. The lawsuit claims that the treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, violated federal privacy laws by giving Mr Musk’s team full access to the Bureau of the Fiscal Service’s confidential payment systems. Within days of Mr Bessent’s appointment, the bureau’s top career official, David A Lebryk, was placed on administrative leave after reportedly resisting DOGE’s data-access requests. Mr Lebryk subsequently announced his retirement, according to the lawsuit.

The complaint reads: “The scale of the intrusion into individuals’ privacy is massive and unprecedented.”. Mr Trump said of the move: “He’s got access only to letting people go that he thinks are no good, if we agree with him. And it’s only if we agree with him.”. The treasury department and Mr Musk’s team have not yet publicly commented on the legal challenge. White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt added that Mr Musk has “abided by all federal laws”.

As well as treasury access, the department took aim at the US Agency for International Development, which was formerly a department that provided humanitarian aid to more than 100 countries, saying the spending being done there was “wasteful”. They have also announced the termination of a social security contract for the Gender X initiative marker, which was intended to provide a non-binary option for gender identification. Mr Musk has claimed this will save the government around $1m.