DOGE Isn't New

We have been hearing the laments and cries of outrage from the Democrats and the embedded Left in government, with some claiming what Trump is doing via the Department Of Government Efficiency is illegal and doesn’t have the power to do what it’s been doing. Nor are Trump’s actions based upon DOGE’s findings. But they are wrong...and they have Barack Obama to thank for that.

Obama created the United States Digital Service (USDS) in 2014. It was meant as a bureaucratic patch job to fix the Obamacare website meltdown.

Fast forward to 2025. Trump rebrands it to DOGE (Unites States DOGE Service). Keeps the acronym, keeps the funding, but gives it a whole new mission: Find the Receipts.

Legally untouchable because it was already fully funded and operational. Trump evokes 5 USC 3161, which allows him to create temporary hiring authorities. DOGE teams get embedded inside every single federal agency. Each team consists of a lawyer, HR rep, a zoomer nerd, and an investigator. They report to DOGE, not the agency they’re embedded in.

But wait, there’s more! Trump invokes 44 USC Chapter 35, which governs federal IT and cybersecurity oversight. Since USDS was originally an IT oversight body, DOGE now has full access to all federal data systems. Yes, that’s right. All of them.

The Democrats keep thinking Trump is an idiot, but that persona they see is more like a costume an actor dons to play a role, and he shows them what they expect to see. But Trump was smart. He understands the mistakes he made during his first term and didn’t want to repeat them. This time he made plans well in advance, put together teams to bring those plans to fruition and to so constitutionally. That USDS was repurposed, it was still well within its original charter. Trump used The Won’s own creation against the Democrats.

One commenter wrapped it up perfectly:

The same people who scream fascism if the government tries to check the trash of a house of a suspected child molester will cheerfully give that same government the right to inspect the trash if they think the house is using plastic straws rather than paper ones in the name of fighting global warming.

Their only argument is "but it's different when we do it, because we're the good people."

I have to agree. If it were Kamala Harris doing this they’d be all for it and would do their best to shield their friends, family, and campaign donors from such investigations.