DOGE: Is It Really Necessary?

An Independent Journalist's Perspective

President Trump established DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) on January 20, 2025 by Executive Order —

“By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:

Section 1. Purpose. This Executive Order establishes the Department of Government Efficiency to implement the President’s DOGE Agenda, by modernizing Federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity.”

You can read the details of the DOGE initiative in the Executive Order.

Though many journalists in the news media have expressed approval or disapproval for DOGE, I express neither. That’s because of my long-held belief that journalists should not ‘express’ their personal views about news stories publicly. Our job as journalists is to find facts, confirm facts, and report facts. DOGE is a government agency, so journalists should cover it from a facts-based perspective; confirm what they find, then report what they are able to confirm. A journalist’s personal opinion should be just that — personal and kept to themselves.

Really Necessary?

Now to my question about DOGE. Is this new government agency really necessary? President Trump thinks so. Why not let Congress do the job the Constitution gives it to do?

Congress has the ‘power of the purse;’ also known as The Appropriations Clause (Article I, Section 9, Clause 7):

“No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time.” U.S. Constitution Annotated

Why not let Inspectors General do the job Congress gave them to do through the Inspector General Act of 1978? The original act impacted 12 Federal agencies. Today, there are 72 statutory IGs.

Statutory IGs are structurally unique within the Federal government. The stated purpose of the IG Act is to create independent and objective units within each agency whose duty it is to combat waste, fraud, and abuse in the programs and operations of that agency. To this end, each IG is responsible for conducting audits and investigations relating to the programs and operations of its agency, and providing leadership and coordination and recommending policies for, and to conduct, supervise, or coordinate other activities for the purpose of promoting economy, efficiency, and effectiveness and preventing and detecting fraud and abuse in those programs and operations.

OIGs are charged with not only investigating or auditing fraud, waste, and abuse after they have occurred, but also identifying vulnerabilities and recommending programmatic changes that would, when enacted or implemented, strengthen controls or mitigate risk. Additionally, OIGs may investigate allegations of mismanagement. To this end, some OIGs, but not all, have separate offices devoted to conducting program inspections and evaluations. Others fulfill this responsibility through their audit and investigative offices. Where an OIG does conduct program evaluations and inspections, the IG is charged with tracking and reporting these recommendations in its semiannual report to the Congress, just as it reports its audit findings and recommendations. Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency

Doesn’t that sound a lot like what DOGE is attempting to do? Why do we need DOGE when Congress already approved the IG Act in 1978? If Inspectors General were doing their jobs, Congress was acting on what the IG’s were uncovering, and journalists were holding Congress and government agencies accountable, DOGE would probably not be necessary.

Keep in mind that the U.S. Government Accountability Office is also tasked to stopping fraud that steals millions of taxpayer dollars every year. The GAO even established a way for citizens to report fraud —

Fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement of federal funds can cost millions of dollars. Learn what we mean by these terms, and how you can report them through GAO’s FraudNet. Government Accountability Office

Why do we still have so much fraud, waste, and abuse in government with offices like the GAO and agency Inspectors General? Are they not working? Does the government need another way of stopping this enormous waste of taxpayer money? If so, what?

The System

You’ve heard the phrase ‘our system of government?’ That means the way the Founders of our country intended for the government to operate. The United States is a ‘democratic republic,’ where elected representatives make decisions for the citizens of the country. If the citizens don’t like the way the ‘republic’ is operating, they can change the executive and legislative branches of government through the power of the ballot box.

The power for running the government is divided into three co-equal branches with specific Constitutional duties and responsibilities. With responsibility comes accountability. Therein may be the problem.

Many citizens and elected officials don’t believe our ‘system of government’ is operating the way it should. I’ve heard that complaint since I became a journalist in 1967, so this is nothing new. In fact, it’s a complaint that goes back to the 19th century. Citizens and some elected officials wanted to ensure that government agencies were acting independently and ‘in the public interest.’

That was one of the reasons behind Congress passing the IG Act of 1978. I remember reporting about many government scandals in the 1960s and 70s, including Watergate. The government scandals caused many people to lose trust in how their government was being run. The IG Act of 1978 was supposed to be an answer to the concerns taxpayers had about corruption, inefficiency, poor management, and abuse in their government.

I covered IG reports to Congress for years and wondered why Congress wasn’t doing more to ‘fix’ the problems IG’s were finding and reporting to Congress. I asked our representatives and senators who served on various government committees what they were doing about those findings. The answer I heard most often was — ‘we’re as concerned as you are and looking into it.’ Unfortunately, I had to report later that Congress had done little (if anything) to seriously address much of the waste, fraud, corruption, and abuse that IGs were uncovering and reporting.

Administrations changed many times during my years in journalism, but not much seemed to change from one administration to another. There were lots of promises during political campaigns, but not much progress was made once new people were in office. The feedback from taxpayers about how the government was operating and spending their money was often negative as shown in national research through the years (Pew Research: 1958-2024).

The Federal Budget

I remember covering news when the U.S. government did not have any budget shortfall. It happened under two administrations during my time as a journalist. The first time was 1969. The last time was from 1998-2001. So, how did we go from a federal budget surplus of more than $100 billion in 2001 to a budget deficit of almost $840 billion this year?

“A deficit occurs when the federal government’s spending exceeds its revenues. The federal government has spent $840 billion more than it has collected in this fiscal year (FY) 2025, resulting in a national deficit.” U.S. Treasury Fiscal Data

Was it because of mis-management? Corruption? Stupidity? Greed? Laziness? Bad luck? Asleep at the wheel?

None of this is ‘news’ to Congress. They have access to the House Budget Committee. Guess what Congress’ own budget committee just reported as its ‘updated baseline?’

“CBO now projects that deficit spending for FY25 will reach a staggering $1.9 trillion, the third-highest figure in American history.

The FY 2025 deficit amounts to 6.2 percent of GDP (the 50-year average is 3.8 percent). This historically high projection is the product of a 17.1 percent of GDP revenue projection (roughly equal to the 50-year average of 17.3 percent) and a higher level of spending, 23.3 percent of GDP compared to the 50-year average of 21.1 percent.

Annual interest spending has increased by $600 billion or 170 percent in the four years since President Biden took office.

By 2035, gross federal debt is projected to be $59.2 trillion (134.8 percent of GDP) in 2035, up from $36.2 trillion (123.2 percent of GDP) now.” House Budget Committee

Do you think this report would ‘concern’ taxpayers if they knew about it? Have you told them? Have you asked people in Congress what they’re planning to do with their own budget committee’s report?

Another important issue is ‘how’ the federal government is spending taxpayer money. It’s one thing to have a large budget deficit. It’s another to spend that money unwisely or corruptly. That seems to be a major focus of DOGE. Whether they are successful or not is yet to be seen. Lawsuits against DOGE audits have already been filed in federal courts, so that could potentially delay or even stop some of what DOGE is doing.

According to the intent of the Founding Fathers of the United States, taxpayers have a right to know how the Federal government spends their money. The three branches of the government should be able to show taxpayers that they are spending their money wisely and well. If they aren’t, we have what’s known as the Fourth Estate. If you’re a journalist, that’s you —

“It might be news to you that the term fourth estate has been around for centuries. In Europe, going back to medieval times, the people who participated in the political life of a country were generally divided into three classes or estates. In England they were the three groups with representation in Parliament, namely, the nobility, the clergy, and the common people. Some other group, like the mob or the public press, that had an unofficial but often great influence on public affairs, was called the fourth estate. In the 19th century, fourth estate came to refer exclusively to the press, and now it's applied to all branches of the news media.” Merriam-Webster

In case you’re wondering, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) does not directly investigate fraud and abuse in government.

“The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) oversees the performance of federal agencies, and administers the federal budget.” OMB

However, the OMB does work to ensure that government agencies comply with all financial management policies. It also promotes accountability within government.

If fraud is reported to or suspected by the OMB, employees would notify the Government Accountability Office (GAO) or the Office of the Inspector General (OIG).

Taxpayer Trust?

The ultimate question of course goes to the taxpayer. What do they think about how the government is handling their money? What do they think about how journalists are doing their jobs of covering government? Here’s an answer from a Gallup poll released just a few months ago —

“The United States continues to suffer from a crisis in confidence in many institutions, including the federal government, its three branches, and those who either hold or are running for public office. In addition, trust in the fourth estate -- the mass media -- is at a new low. Local and state governments and the American people as a whole are the only entities garnering trust from more than half of U.S. adults.” Gallup, 10/14/2024

I think one of the reason that many taxpayers are excited about what DOGE is doing right now is because of that lack of trust in government and the press. I believe that if Congress and the News Media can prove to the American people that they will carry out their Constitutional duties fairly and accurately day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, then agencies like DOGE won’t be necessary. The Constitutional system will work just as the nation’s Founders intended.

Covering DOGE

What can journalists do about DOGE? Cover them accurately and fairly, just like you would any other government agency. If DOGE uncovers something that points to fraud, corruption, abuse, or mismanagement of taxpayer monies, document and report it. If DOGE is wrong about any claims of fraud, corruption, or mismanagement of taxpayer monies, document and report that. Basic journalism: cover, confirm, report, followup.

If DOGE is correct, or even partially correct about government waste and fraud of billions of taxpayer dollars, that is a HUGE story that your audience deserves to know. IGs and Congressional committees have been reporting government waste for years, but little has been done to stem the tide of misspending.

I am surprised how few national media outlets are reporting the massive amounts of possible misspending DOGE is finding (billions of dollars). The focus of most media seems to be about outrage over what DOGE is doing without reporting the findings of DOGE. That seems like one-sided journalism. Real Journalism reports all sides fairly and accurately. Taxpayers, your audience, look to you for the truth. Give it to them.

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