When President Trump created the Department of Government Efficiency, its mandate was to modernize “federal technology and software.”
It has done a lot more than that. But today, my colleagues Ryan Mac and Hamed Aleaziz reported that Elon Musk’s outfit is doing something entirely new: building a system to sell $5 million “special immigration visas.”
Musk, whose exact government job description remains unclear, has been working on building the software, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on a recent podcast. Musk and his team are trying to speed up the typical vetting process for immigrants so that rich applicants can obtain U.S. residency in a matter of weeks. They have been working with employees from the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security and United States Citizenship and Immigration Services to create the website and application process.
It’s a story that reveals how DOGE’s functional power has seemingly expanded, with the group going so far as to rework a corner of the nation’s immigration system. Ryan and Hamed noted that it also shows how the Musk outfit is not only trying to cut jobs and contracts but also generate revenue.
And it’s an example of how its staff members are building structures and systems that might outlast them.
Many of DOGE’s employees — and Musk — are “special government employees,” who are allowed to perform “important, but limited” services to the government for 130 days a year.
Eighty-six days into the Trump administration, the clock on those special government employees is ticking. Musk and Trump have both alluded to the idea that the tech billionaire’s time in government could soon wind down, though they are not expected to cut ties.
Musk and DOGE have made a lot of changes so far. Members of the department are building new systems like this one. They are leading an effort to consolidate government data more broadly, despite the objections of career staff members and national security experts.
They have pushed to cut tens of thousands of jobs and spur early retirements, which federal workers across the government say has sapped agencies of critical institutional knowledge. And they have kneecapped agencies like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and U.S.A.I.D.
The State Department, which is trying to absorb the remains of that aid agency, offers an interesting window into the next phase of DOGE.
A DOGE staff member, Jeremy Lewin, 28, now has a top role in foreign assistance, my colleague Edward Wong reported this week, which will give Lewin the power to oversee what’s left of U.S.A.I.D. The Associated Press observed yesterday that his job amounts to one of the highest-ranking formal government positions for a member of Musk’s team.
The next round of changes the Trump administration envisions for the State Department, though, could be much harder. Edward and our colleague Karoun Demirjian obtained a copy of an internal memo outlining a plan that would cut the department’s funding almost in half. It proposes major cuts to humanitarian assistance and global health programs, eliminating almost all funding for international organizations like the United Nations and NATO, and much more.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been clear that he, not Musk or DOGE, is the one in charge of cuts to the State Department. But, as Edward and Karoun point out, he also needs the agreement of Congress to make them — and it’s not clear how seriously such cuts will be taken there.
MEANWHILE on X
Musk’s sprawling family
So, about that Wall Street Journal article. My colleague Kate Conger explains how Musk responded on X.
Elon Musk responded to a bombshell Wall Street Journal report on Tuesday night about his effort to have a “legion” of children with various women by dissing the publication on X.
“TMZ >> WSJ,” he wrote on his social media platform.
Musk regularly disputes the news media’s reporting about him, taking a page from the Trump playbook and calling articles he dislikes “fake news.”
The Journal’s reporting relied on extensive documentation of Musk’s management of his large and complex family, including the privacy agreements and financial deals struck with the mothers of his children.
And Musk has been very public about his belief that populations around the world are in decline and people like him should have as many children as possible to close the gap.
So his dismissal of the reporting should be taken with a grain of salt. It’s also worth noting that he didn’t have much more to say about it.
— Kate Conger
IN THE COURTS
Unraveling DOGE’s mysteries
A key court case seeking more transparency from the Department of Government Efficiency was significantly sped up yesterday, raising the possibility that the secretive government outfit could be forced to reveal more about its operations. I asked my colleague Zach Montague to tell us more.
Since it was created in January, DOGE has resisted requests for basic transparency, arguing that it doesn’t need to reveal exactly what it is up to.
Now, a federal judge might be about to change that.
Yesterday, Judge Christopher R. Cooper, who is overseeing a lawsuit against DOGE, ordered Musk’s team to clear up a lot of the uncertainty around its operations. Trying to move along the suit, which centers on a Freedom of Information Act request from a nonprofit group, he granted a request for expedited discovery to speed up the fact-finding process.
At least in theory, this could help answer some fundamental questions about what DOGE is, what purpose it serves within the White House, and what authority and decision-making power it has in the Trump administration’s quest to downsize the federal government.
In lawsuits so far, officials working with Musk have downplayed their power and responsibility, arguing that they serve in advisory roles and simply make recommendations for people in positions of authority, like cabinet-level secretaries. This argument, if successful, could shield the group from certain transparency requirements.
Judge Cooper has already found, though, that DOGE has most of the hallmarks of a government agency that would typically be subject to FOIA and the Federal Records Act. The government has continued to dispute that. So on Tuesday, the judge set a few quick deadlines to try to get some answers.
He required DOGE to respond within two weeks to all the requests that the nonprofit watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, has made. That includes requests for documents and sworn answers to CREW’s written questions.
He also ordered depositions of the nominal DOGE administrator — Amy Gleason — as well as one other person from the group who it believes can speak to its operations.
Judge Cooper declined to order a deposition of Steve Davis, who The New York Times has reported serves as a day-to-day leader of DOGE, finding that Gleason should be able to speak to any issue he could. The depositions are due within 24 days.
Jess Bidgood is a managing correspondent for The Times and writes the On Politics newsletter, a guide to the 2024 election and beyond.
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