User:Geo Swan/DOGE

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Several directors of Federal agencies, appointed by Donald Trump, challenged whether Elon Musk had the authority to demand an accounting of their performance, from their employees. Agencies which told employees they should either pause, or not comply with Musk's demands included: the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Energy, the State Department, the Department of Justice, the Department of Defense, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the Office of Homeland Security. Agencies which told employees they should answer Musk's email included: the Treasury, the General Services Administration, the Department of Transportation, and the Office of Management and Budget.

According to The New York Times, late on Monday night, hours before his initial deadline, Musk said:

“Subject to the discretion of the President, they will be given another chance...” “Failure to respond a second time will result in termination.”

Legality of shutting down USAID

The USAID is an agency with a mandate from Congress to provide various kinds of aid to foreign countries, and to non-governmental organizations, within foreign countries. The agencies share of the US government's budget is less than half a percent.

The kinds of aid provided include, sending food, and medical supplies, helping to build hospitals, teaching institutions, orphanages. The aid includes sending trainers. Supporters have claimed sending aid helps stimulate the US economy, because the food, medical supplies, building supplies, are all purchased in the US, and help create US jobs.

supporters of the agency claim that it benefits the USA for it be seen being visibly generous, that this enhances US pretige and influence. Proponents have claimed that helping to prevent misery and despair helps prevent the politicization of radicals, or at least helps prevent those who had been radicalized wanting to target the USA.

Critics of the agency claim that credulous employees are bamboozled by corrupt officials in those foreign countries, so the aid is diverted, and does not go to the truly needy.

Legal commentators have commented on the legality of Trump ordering the shutting down of USAID. Originally, the agency was set up by President John F. Kennedy's Executive Order. But the US Congress's 1998 bill gave it a Congressional mandate. US Presidents lack the authority to shut down agencies funded by Congress, or to strip or divert those agencies of their Congressionally mandated funding.

21 DOGE staffers resign

21 individuals who had worked for the Department of United States Digital Services prior to Donald Trump's creation of DOGE resigned on February 25, 2025.

According to the Associated Press:

• All 21 had held senior positions, at firms like Google, and had joined USDS out of a patriotic desire to serve their country.
• They signed a joint resignation letter.
• Elon Musk characterized them as "Dem holdovers", and that their resignation didn't matter, as they all would have been fired, eventually, anyway.
• According to the Associated Press "The employees also warned that many of those enlisted by Musk to help him slash the size of the federal government under President Donald Trump’s administration were political ideologues who did not have the necessary skills or experience for the task ahead of them."
• "“We swore to serve the American people and uphold our oath to the Constitution across presidential administrations... However, it has become clear that we can no longer honor those commitments.”

The CBC reported that the Trump Presidency had fired 40 former USDS employees earlier in February.

CBC mentioned the dismissal of cyber-security expert Jonathon Kamens.