What is Doge and why is Musk cutting so many jobs?

The new advisory body created by US President Donald Trump and heads the richest person in the world, has been tasked with cutting the work of the US government and other costs.

Elon Musk leads these efforts to dramatically reduce the federal labor and weed out what he sees as a waste of taxpayers’ money.

But his Ministry of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has encountered legal obstacles, accusations of conflict interest and fears that it would cause serious damage.

Having explained his actions to journalists in the oval office, Musk defended his plans and denied the affirmation of the rival Democrats that he embodied the “hostile absorption” of the government.

The poll suggests that the reduction of public expenses has extensive support.

Despite its full name, the doge is not the official government department that should be established by the Congress Act.

Instead, it happened through one of the President Trump’s leaders and acts as an advisory body with at least four employees dedicated to each state agencies.

Part of the Doge mission, said in order, is related to its modernization aimed at improving efficiency. It must finish its work by July 2026.

Many of Dogeo staff seem to be young people with technological. These include an employee who resigned after being linked to a racist account on social media, Who Musk promised to remake.

Yes. Although Musk initially stated that he would play a role as a volunteer, the White House later stated that he was working as an unpaid special government officer.

This designation is officially defined as those who have been working for the government within 130 days or less a year.

For some supporters of this new body, the status of an outsider – as well as its several vague mandate – will be a benefit.

“They are no longer subjected to the bureaucracy itself and the systems that slow the processes here,” said the Senator Kevin Crame from Northern Dakota. “I think the lack of parameters is part of what will make them effective.”

His mission, says Musk, is to save taxpayers’ money and reduce US state debt, which is 36 TN (28.9 pounds).

Initially, he said he was hoping to save up to $ 2 a year, but later hardened this assessment.

Musk stated that he wants to stop the “bureaucracy tyranny”, which he describes as the fourth branch of the government that works against the Trump agenda. Critics of his work see simpler ideological motivations.

“They are not going to enter the agencies that do what they like. They are included in the agencies they disagree,” said Douglas Holz-Iequin, a former republican director of the budget budget (CBO).

It is unclear how much money Dage has been saved so far, although his account X gives regular, festive updates that, according to them, it was abbreviated. Among his title action is:

• DEGE representatives included in different departments to monitor the costs. Trump says they identified “fraud and abuse” without giving evidence
• Within the framework of the war on politics he “woke up”, Musk stated that his team “retained taxpayers over $ 1 billion in mad Dei (diversity, justice and inclusion) contracts”
• Taking an ax in USAID, the main American organization of foreign aid, which finances projects in dozens of countries – which both men call a wasteful
• Make a ransom offer two million civil servants to try to cut the size of the federal labor
• Trying to take control and possibly close, Consumer Financial Defense Bureau (CFPB). This was created to protect consumers after the financial crisis 2007-2008 but Republicans are accused of overcoming work

Dodge enjoys extensive popular support, poll by US partner BBC CBS News.

This showed that most Americans – especially Republican voters – supported their work, even if they did not agree on what influence it was personally.

The size of the permanent labor currently exceeds two million, and one of the largest enlargements was in 2023, partly due to the large investments of the Biden administration in infrastructure projects.

David Diva, Senior Analyst of the Center for Innovative Economic Policy Centers, Conservative Analytical Center, says Dage’s work is needed.

“They shine a very bright spotlight in different parts of the federal government, and they ask if it is an American public, or will it be moderate members of the Republican Caper – how do you want to use tax dollars in America?”

Political opponents and government guards accuse Dage of acting without transparency and dissemination of misinformation about state expenses – and accused Musk of exceeding his authority as an unleashed official.

Critics emphasize the potential conflict of Moscow interests, given the billions in the contracts that its enterprises are conducting with the US government. Trump and Musk deny that any problems will arise.

Several groups, including trade unions and general lawyers, sued Dage and the Trump’s broad administration for their plans, and the Democrats accuse them of fake financing, approved by the Congress, which is located in the president’s sphere. The White House denies that the work violated any laws.

Several times the courts have entered to stop the cost reduction steps at least once blocking Dogel directly when the judge stopped the agency with access to the US Treasury.

Speaking to the journalists in the Oval Office, Musk said he was expecting care for his work, but insisted that the Americans voted for the reform of the “common sense”.

But the students ask if he will be able to accept their bold promises.

Elein Komark, a senior management officer at the Brookings Institute, told the BBC that efforts to streamline public expenses “could be made”, emphasizing its own work for President Bill Clinton in the 1990s.

But she stated the idea of ​​Moscow about the reduction of a third of state expenditures “inappropriate”, as so much budget was mandatory, including popular programs such as social security and Medicare.

With additional reporting Jessica Parker and Cai Pigliucci