Adept White House legal maneuvering is shielding the new Department of Government Efficiency from Freedom of Information Act transparency regulations and sidestepping onerous federal staffing laws—providing maximum political and operational flexibility to President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, leader of the “DOGE” initiative.

On Monday evening, Trump signed an order that renames the U.S. Digital Service (USDS), which was created in 2014 by former President Barack Obama to “change [the] government’s approach to technology,” as the U.S. DOGE Service (USDS). (Note the identical acronyms.)

The DOGE-focused executive order is one of many signed by the new president, including an order rescinding nearly 80 actions from the Biden administration like memos and executive orders, including those focused on diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility.

Trump announced the creation of DOGE, co-led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, shortly after winning the election in November. Their mission is focused on cutting government spending: Musk and Ramaswamy paid an early visit to Capitol Hill to discuss their efforts with lawmakers, and the creation of the Senate DOGE Caucus soon followed.

By re-branding an existing White House agency as DOGE, President Trump could circumvent the rules governing advisory committees that are the basis

President Donald Trump signed dozens of executive orders after his inauguration on Monday, and followed through on promises related to energy, government efficiency and trade.

Trump on Monday signed an executive order to create Elon Musk's DOGE, with a mandate to improve federal IT systems.