According to the executive order, DOGE teams, which will “typically include one DOGE team leader, one engineer, one human resources specialist and one attorney,” will be sent to different agencies. They will have “access to all unclassified agency records, software systems and IT systems,” ostensibly with the goal of streamlining data sharing across federal agencies.

A former USDS employee who spoke to Wired on condition of anonymity to protect their privacy called the repurposing of the digital service an “A+ bureaucratic Jiujitsu move.” But, they say, they worry that Doge’s access to sensitive information could be used to disrupt more than just government operations.

“Is this technical talent going to be pointed to using federal government data to track opponents?” ask them “To track down specific populations of interest to this administration for the purposes of targeting them or singling them out or whatever?”

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However, Doge’s first order of business appears to be to weed out people in agencies who can push back the Trump administration’s agenda, starting with existing USDS staff and hiring new people.

“Doge teams have a lawyer, an HR director and an engineer. If you were looking to identify functions to cut, people to cut, having an HR director there and having an advocate say, ‘Here’s what we may or may not do’ would be one way to to facilitate it,’ said Don Moynihan, a professor of public policy at the University of Michigan, noting that Doge’s potential access to federal employee data ‘could put them in a sort of crosshairs for being fired.’

When Musk took over Twitter, he brought in help from outside his inner circle as well as his other companies to transform the company, a move he has repeated.

Who exactly will be part of Doge is a very thorny problem, because there are technically two dogs. One of these is the permanent organization, the revamped USDS – now the US Doge Service. The other is a temporary organization, with a termination date of July 4, 2026. The creation of this organization means that the temporary doge can operate under a special set of rules. It can recruit employees from other parts of the government and accept people who want to work for the government as volunteers. Temporary organizations can also hire so-called special government officials — experts in a given field who can bypass the rigors of regular federal hiring processes. It is also not subject to the same transparency requirements as other government officials.

At best, this will enable Doge to move quickly to quickly identify problems and the talent needed, as well as build systems that make government services seamless by facilitating the flow of information and data. But at worst, it could mean less transparency around the interests of people working on important government projects, while potentially allowing oversight.