Big Balls Was Just the Beginning

"Since the beginning of the Trump administration, the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the brainchild of billionaire Elon Musk, has gone through several iterations, leading periodically to claims- most recently from the director of the Office of Personnel Management-that the group doesn't exist, or has vanished altogether. But DOGE isn't dead. Many of its original members are in full-time roles at various government agencies, and the new National Design Studio (NDS) is headed by Airbnb cofounder Joe Gebbia, a close ally of Musk's."

"Even if DOGE doesn't survive another year, or until the US semiquincentennial-its original expiration date, per the executive order establishing it-the organization's larger project will continue. DOGE from its inception was used for two things, both of which have continued apace: the destruction of the administrative state and the wholesale consolidation of data in service of concentrating power in the executive branch. It is a pattern that experts say could spill over beyond the Trump administration."

""I do think it has altered the norms about where legislative power ends and where executive power begins simply by ignoring those norms," says Don Moynihan, a professor of public policy at the University of Michigan. "This is not necessarily going to be limited to Republican administrations. There are going to be future Democratic presidents who will say, 'Well, DOGE was able to do this, why can't we?'""

"The earliest days of DOGE were characterized by a chaotic blitz in which small teams of DOGE operatives, like the now infamous Edward "Big Balls" Coristine, were deployed across government agencies, demanding high-level access to sensitive data, firing workers, and cutting contracts. And while these moves were often radical, if not appearing to be illegal, as matters of bureaucratic operation, they were in service of what had been the Trump administration's agenda all along."

Since the start of the Trump administration the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has undergone multiple iterations and periodic claims of disappearance. Many original DOGE members now hold full-time roles across government agencies and the National Design Studio (NDS) is led by Joe Gebbia, an ally of Elon Musk. DOGE's core project—dismantling the administrative state and consolidating data under the executive—has continued despite organizational changes. Early DOGE tactics included rapid deployments demanding high-level data access, firing staff, and cutting contracts. Observers note that altered norms blur legislative and executive boundaries and could be adopted by future presidents of either party.

Read at WIRED