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Trump defines Agency Head, Administrator and DOGE Team Leader, and we still don't know what Musk is [1]

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Date: 2025-02-27

The new executive order is titled: Implementing the President's "Department of Government Efficiency" Cost Efficiency Initiative. Note that Trump put quote marks around DOGE, like he doesn't really mean it or is deligitimizing the term like he does in his Truth Social posts.

After a brief intro, definitions of Administrator, Agency, Agency Head and DOGE Team Lead follow. The rest is just instructions for DOGE to do what it's already doing.

Trump's team is trying to make sense about DOGE and give Musk cover for running the show, but not running the show. That still doesn't say who the Administrator and Agency Head are, when it should mean the same thing.

One by one. Section 2 Definitions:

a) "Administrator" means the Administrator of the of the United States DOGE Service, as defined in...

An Administrator is an administrator. Doesn't define their duties. "DOGE Service" is a new reference.

b) "Agency" has the meaning given to that term in 44 U.S.C ยง 3502, except that does not include the Executive Office of the President or any components thereof.

Gobbledygook. An agency of the President is not an agency. Just in this one case, or in all Departments, Bureaus and Agencies? It would mean there is the President as the executive, but there are no other parts. Lunacy to get around calling DOGE an agency. He calls it a "Service." There are agencies that are "services," like the Secret Service and the Internal Revenue Service, so that doesn't work.

c) "Agency Head" means the highest-ranking official of an Agency, such as Secretary, Administrator, Chairman or Director. Agency Heads may select designees within their agencies to carry out the responsibilities specified in this order.

That is pretty much straightforward, But we still don't have a clue as to what Musk is or if DOGE is an agency.

d) "Covered contracts and grants" means discretionary spending through Federal contracts, grants, loans, and related instruments, but excludes direct assistance to individuals; expenditures related to immigration enforcement, law enforcement, the military, public safety, and the intelligence community; and other critical, or acute, or emergency spending as determined by the relevant Agency Head. Notification shall be made to the agency's DOGE Team Lead.

It's the "excludes" that tell the story. First one, you'll notice, is immigration, then law enforcement. Trump can contract out to private firms building and operating detention camps, and everything needed to support them. Transportation. All functions. Hire private law enforcement. Doesn't even have to deputize anybody. Everything else after that is a catch-all for every other government function he wants to fund. Congress is impotent.

e) "DOGE Team Lead" means the leader of the DOGE Team at each agency, as defined in Executive Order 14158.

Redundancy School of Redundancy. The order is the one Trump signed on January 20th, his first day in office, that created and authorized the Department of Government Efficiency. Sort of. If it's a department, it's an agency, and the head of it has to be confirmed by the Senate. The agency has to go through funding by the Congress. So far, none of that has been done.

In Section 3, all the means of cost cutting are defined and authorized. Basically it says that they've got control of contracts, not any agency. Then they go into non-justifiable travel expenses. Government money isn't going to be used to travel to any conferences or events that are related to their job. It calls them non-essential. End of story.

Use of government credit cards is frozen for 30 days, with some exceptions. How anyone is going to be able to determine if they qualify under those exemptions is unknown. Last I heard all credit cards had been given a $1 limit. Only time the credit cards could be used is for disaster relief or other critical services determined by the agency head. When you need to use a card you, need to use a card. You can't just call up the agency head and get them to approve instantly, which is when the credit cards need to be used. Instantly.

Last is about government real estate and leases. Justify the leases or it's gone. Government property that isn't being utilized will be sold. What about future needs? In the future the leases and the property will cost more to get back. The price of building leases and land have a tendency to always go up. So the Department of Government Efficiency is going to be causing the government to be less efficient, by forcing it to spend more money later to fulfill a ridiculous short term cost reduction. DOGE doesn't think that way. They think the government is going to be shrunk, and never grow again..

There is absolutely nothing in this executive order that explains what Elon Musk's role is. What position does he hold, other than Trump saying that he's an employee, or advisor of the President. He's not a Secretary, Director, Administrator or Agency Head. He's a bump on a log with more power than all of the cabinet put together.

Musk is cutting down agencies that get in the way of his businesses. Criminal conflict of interest. CFPB, FDIC, SEC, FAA, EPA, and any other agency or bureau that gets in his way of making more money, like he needs it.

This order is all about the "excludes" in contracts and real estate, credit cards and travel.

Evasive maneuvers to keep us from looking for the man behind the curtain.

The contracts are the most important part. See who gets them would be nice, but Musk also has control of government information, so we might not even find out how money is actually spent. Congress has given up its power of the purse. Not a good way to run a government

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