Washington D.C., January 21, 2025 — Taking a big step into line with President Donald Trump’s agenda, co-led by Elon Musk, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has begun massive cuts across the budget on programs designed to foster Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) under the Biden administration.
This venture is part of wider initiatives aimed at deregulating the government and bringing down expenditure.
Duration of Disbanding the CDOEC
Fresh on the heels of Trump taking office, DOGE would set about disbanding the Chief Diversity Officers Executive Council (CDOEC), which had been a linchpin for the implementation of DEI suggestions across the federal agencies.
It was decided that this council was no longer needed, given the new administration’s orders to wipe off programs deemed divisive.
Musk would let the world know simply that “It begins,” and this pinged as the start of the dissolution.
Expenditures on DEI
The cuts made by DOGE have been informed by a report from the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty naming $120 billion in annual federal spending on DEI programs.
Programs include the following:
- Ag-Grants and Loans: Financial assistance for minority farmers and ranchers.
- Housing Assistance: A program helping homeowners and offering housing vouchers to underprivileged groups.
- Federal Contract Allocations: Programs earmarking a portion of federal contracts for minority-owned business.
The opposers have gone to claim that these are necessary steps in dismantling set ways leading to systemic inequalities.
Meanwhile, supporters of the cuts continue to cite indiscriminate government spending.
A Million Dollar Cut off the Government Checkbook
Initially, Musk wanted a $2 trillion annual cut from the federal budget-exceeding total discretionary spending.
AIDS, thus, would’ve come up against a hard time when it came to getting that hardline regime of monetary ambitions going.
Since that artificial starting point, DOGE has subsequently tempered its goal down to $1 trillion-a figure that both remains lofty and actually allows for achieving something.
Operational Dynamics
Trump ended speculation that Musk will shepherd DOGE from an office in the West Wing.
The majority of DOGE staff will be stationed in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, housing about 20 staff members tasked with the administration’s efficiency directives.
Vivek Ramaswamy-aka the entrepreneur who was at first scheduled to co-head DOGE-has quit to run for governor, thus leaving Musk to head the department with its initiatives.
Administrative Actions
President Trump issued executive orders to repeal almost 80 executive actions that came from the previous administration while at the same time providing support to DOGE.
These included actions related to artificial intelligence, climate change, and health care. Other orders called for a freeze on federal hiring under pretexts of building a merit-based hiring plan to be completed within 120 days.
These are aimed at constraining bureaucratic expansion and making sure qualified individuals get government posts.
Political Reactions
Responses to the initiation of cuts by DOGE have run the gamut from supporters of governmental efficiency applauding what seems as a proactive way to downsize on what they view as disproportionate expenditures, to critics arguing that cutting DEI programs would hurt the thoroughgoing promotion of inclusiveness and amelioration of far-reaching historical inequities.
The exchange really boils down to the larger national discussion on the proper role of government in righting the social wrongs against nicking an already over-stretched budget.
As DOGE works through its expanded mandate, the department must strike a balance between saving taxpayer dollars and the potential social fallout from its service cuts.
Whether these initiatives ultimately prove successful will depend on the extent to which they evaluate programs for effectiveness and necessity.
With a sunset on July 4, 2026-for the semi-centennial anniversary of the nation-DOGE is under the gun but still in the boat: the next few months will prove decisive in defining what the federal government will look like.
