They’re cleaning house, and there’s nothing these DC bureaucrats can do about it. Even when they try to fight back, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has the full backing of the White House. If they want access to systems, they’ll get it. In short, whatever they want, they get, as USAID found out.
A top staffer at that agency tried to counter a DOGE order—the White House placed the troublesome official on leave. This move came after the Trump White House and DOGE recently ordered dozens of security officials to be placed under a similar administrative designation. The source of the friction was access (via WaPo):
The Trump administration has removed two top security officials at the U.S. Agency for International Development after they refused to let representatives of Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” access restricted spaces at the agency on Saturday, said current and former USAID officials.
The placement of the security officials — John Voorhees and his deputy — on administrative leave is the latest effort by the Trump administration and Musk to wrest control of the world’s largest provider of food assistance, which they have denigrated without offering evidence as left-wing and corrupt amid objections from Democratic and Republican lawmakers.
Amid the turmoil at the agency, Matt Hopson, the USAID chief of staff and a political appointee, resigned, according to a current and former USAID official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive situation. Hopson did not respond to requests for comment.
Voorhees was put on leave after he did not allow DOGE officials to access a sensitive compartmented information facility — commonly known as a “SCIF” — an ultra-secure room where officials and government contractors take extraordinary precautions to review highly classified information, according to three current and former USAID officials.
[…]
When USAID personnel attempted to block access to some areas, DOGE officials threatened to call federal marshals, one of the Democratic aides said. The DOGE officials were eventually given access to “secure spaces” including the security office.
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‼️‼️A career @USAID official tried to reverse a @DOGE decision to place 60 senior agency officials on admin leave earlier this week. DOGE immediately took punitive action for the attempt, and now that official is on admin leave too. This is the email the official sent: pic.twitter.com/nGx1Y0uVk4
— Susan Crabtree (@susancrabtree) January 31, 2025
These people still don’t get that Trump won the election. Their time of doing things is over. It’s our time, and we will slash and burn the incompetence and waste that’s infested DC for generations. At Treasury, DOGE finally gained access to their payment system. That also led to a showdown with a top official there, who eventually quit (via Fox News):
Tech billionaire Elon Musk ripped alleged "fraudulent" Treasury payments on Saturday as reports circulated that the Department of Government Efficiency has gained acces to the federal government's payment system as the second Trump administration continues cutting what they say is government fat and overspending.
"The @DOGE team discovered, among other things, that payment approval officers at Treasury were instructed always to approve payments, even to known fraudulent or terrorist groups. They literally never denied a payment in their entire career. Not even once," Musk, the chair of DOGE, posted early Saturday morning to X.
Musk's post came just ahead of the New York Times reporting Saturday afternoon that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent granted DOGE personnel access to the payment system. The Treasury spends roughly $6 trillion per year on payments for federal agencies.
The Department of Education is rumored to be next.
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