In a newly issued executive order (EO), the Trump administration has instructed the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the Elon Musk-advised initiative to reduce federal spending, to create a “centralized technological system” in every agency to record contract and grant awards.
As part of the ramp-up of these systems, agency employees who approved individual contract and grant payments will have to submit a written justification for their approvals. Agency heads will be able to “pause and rapidly review” any payment for which approving employees haven’t submitted a justification, per the EO.
The EO also instructs agency heads, with assistance from DOGE, to build systems that “centrally record” approval for federally funded travel for conferences and other “non-essential” purposes. Once the systems are in place, agency employees will have to submit written justifications for “non-essential” and conference travel expenses, according to the text of the order.
The move is the latest expansion of DOGE’s already extensive powers to review federal spending activities. Earlier this month, DOGE sent an email to federal employees asking them to outline what they accomplished at work last week or face termination. Reportedly, DOGE plans to feed the contents into an AI algorithm to determine whether someone’s work is mission-critical or not.
DOGE was established under an EO signed by President Trump on January 20, renaming the U.S. Digital Service to DOGE and appointing teams of “special government employees” across federal agencies. Made up of a group of mostly young, private-sector employees from Musk’s businesses and associates, DOGE has largely avoided oversight, leaving open questions around whether cybersecurity and privacy practices are being followed.
