DOGE is causing the very problem it claims to be solving
In recent weeks, the Department of Government Efficiency team has been making claims of “discovering” information about federal programs that was presumed hidden.
“We had no idea we were going to find this much,” President Trump said of DOGE’s work so far.
For the record: Federal program data is surprisingly accessible. For the last three years, I've worked closely with federal data systems. Anyone with an Internet connection can access user-friendly public data portals, like the Federal Program Inventory and USAspending.gov, that show the same information that DOGE is now posting on its new website.
The notion that one needs to access sensitive agency data to uncover federal program spending details is simply not true. These spending portals contain detailed information, like federal program goals, descriptions, funding streams and even recipient organizational names.
Let’s say you wanted to know how much was spent last year on food and nutrition programs in the Department of Agriculture. Just visit the Federal Program Inventory and you’ll find over 50 programs listed. If you wanted to dig deeper and look into the National School Lunch Program, for example, you will find that there were 4.72 billion school lunches and snacks served in 2024.
It gets incredibly specific: If you want to know how many of those school lunches were delivered in Alabama, you can click on the link that will take you to USASpending.gov, another important data product published by the U.S. Treasury to help the public understand where tax dollars are spent. Enter Alabama as the location and you will see the amount of grant money allocated in that state, as well as the organizational recipients who were charged with delivering the program.
All of this is available with just a few clicks. It’s designed for transparency and accessibility.
Unfortunately, DOGE access to backend program data systems is now actively undermining everybody else’s ability to monitor government spending. Until three weeks ago, a simple look at USAID's Development Experience Clearinghouse would have debunked the "$50 million condoms to Gaza" claim, by showing that funding was going to Gaza Province in Mozambique, as part of an HIV prevention program and did not actually fund condoms. But now the the clearinghouse has disappeared.
By removing public data from government websites, the DOGE team is, in fact, creating the precise scenario of shrouding data in secrecy they claim to be solving.
Furthermore, allowing DOGE to access data systems that contain sensitive information about Americans is eroding public trust. There is strong historical precedent why data systems that contain personally identifiable information are not readily accessible to political officials. During World War II, political officials suspended confidentiality protections and unethically secured names and addresses of individuals of Japanese ancestry for surveillance and internment purposes.
Since then, federal agencies have created firewalls to protect the misuse of personally identifiable information. The DOGE team is breaking these firewalls. This is sowing distrust among American citizens, businesses, and even state and local governments when it comes to releasing their data for future federal data collections.
Even Trump himself has recently stated that the DOGE does not need to access sensitive data.
I fully support innovative approaches to improving government efficiency and effectiveness. I’m passionate about opportunities for reform, especially making government data AI-ready for streamlined operations and mission delivery.
If DOGE wants to accelerate existing momentum to improve agency effectiveness with data, I will celebrate that. There are many agency teams that have deep technological prowess, a strong commitment to improving mission delivery, and more than a thousand strategic AI-enabled data projects underway or ready to be executed upon.
But the claim that essential program data is not publicly available, and that DOGE is the only team to liberate that data, misleads the public and undermines real progress.
Shannon Arvizu, Ph.D., is the former senior advisor to the Chief Data Officer at the Department of Commerce and founder of Civic Wisdom, a public sector consultancy.
-
Ukraine to sign critical minerals deal ‘in the very short term’, US claims
National security adviser Mike Waltz tells conference that ‘economic partnership’ will be ‘good’ for KyivFinancial Times - 45m -
Jobless Claims Rise a Little, But Do Not Yet Reflect DOGE Layoffs
Unemployment claims for the week of Feb. 15 were slightly more than expected, but don’t yet reflect the aggressive efforts of Elon Musk’s group.Inc. - 1d -
DOGE claims credit for $4M sale of school building during Biden presidency
DOGE touted the sale of a historic Washington, D.C., property that had been boarded up for years — but the auction happened before President Trump took office.CBS News - 54m -
Big swings, big misses: DOGE struggles to back up its outsized claims
A series of announcements by DOGE and claims by Musk and Trump about the agency’s efforts have crumbled under scrutiny, even as they’re repeated by the White House.NBC News - 1d -
KCAL journalist Chauncy Glover's cause of death revealed, ruled an accident
Chauncy Glover died accidentally after a mix of the chemical chlorethane and methamphetamine were found in the KCAL anchor's system, the medical examiner says.Los Angeles Times - 1d -
Voltron Data just partnered with Accenture to solve one of AI’s biggest headaches
Voltron Data partners with Accenture to revolutionize enterprise data processing with GPU-powered analytics engine Theseus, promising up to 100x performance gains for AI-driven companies facing ...VentureBeat - 1d -
Missing tomb of Egyptian pharaoh solves one of ancient Egypt's great mysteries
CAIRO — A long lost tomb of an Egyptian pharaoh has been found, the country’s antiquities ministry said Tuesday, answering a great mystery of one of ancient Egypt’s most prosperous eras.NBC News - 1d -
Man Utd have 'more problems than solutions' - Amorim
Manchester United currently have "more problems than solutions", says head coach Ruben Amorim as his side prepares to face rejuvenated Everton.BBC News - 4h -
Apple’s Vision Pro has a problem a year into its existence: Not enough apps
Apple said in August that the Vision Pro had 2,500 apps. According to one firm's analysis, fewer than 1,900 remain active.CNBC - 3h -
TV procedurals up their game, with doctors on cruises and quirky single moms solving crimes
“Watson” is an unusual TV medical proceduralABC News - 2d
More from The Hill
-
Pepperdine University says Mindy Kaling's new Netflix series 'misappropriated' its basketball team
Pepperdine University has filed a lawsuit against Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery over Mindy Kaling’s upcoming show "Running Point,” alleging trademark infringement regarding its basketball ...The Hill - 37m -
Hamas’s failure to return Israeli mother’s body strains ceasefire
A tenuous ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has been strained by outrage over Hamas’s alleged transfer of an unknown body to Israel in the place of Shiri Bibas, the Israeli mother kidnapped and ...The Hill - 40m -
Texas AG adds gender screening request to NCAA lawsuit
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton asked a judge on Thursday to require the NCAA to start gender testing for athletes who compete in women’s sports. The request for a temporary injunction adds a ...The Hill - 42m -
USAID aid freeze triggers health care crisis in Africa
USAID's 90-day freeze on all services has resulted in a significant loss of trust, critical health care, food aid, and medical supplies, causing life-threatening consequences for Malawian patients, ...The Hill - 48m -
US Marshals Service deputizes Musk's security team: reports
The U.S. Marshals Service has deputized some of tech billionaire Elon Musk's private security detail, giving them specific rights and protections of federal law enforcement agents, multiple outlets ...The Hill - 50m
More in Politics
-
Pepperdine University says Mindy Kaling's new Netflix series 'misappropriated' its basketball team
Pepperdine University has filed a lawsuit against Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery over Mindy Kaling’s upcoming show "Running Point,” alleging trademark infringement regarding its basketball ...The Hill - 37m -
Hamas’s failure to return Israeli mother’s body strains ceasefire
A tenuous ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has been strained by outrage over Hamas’s alleged transfer of an unknown body to Israel in the place of Shiri Bibas, the Israeli mother kidnapped and ...The Hill - 40m -
Texas AG adds gender screening request to NCAA lawsuit
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton asked a judge on Thursday to require the NCAA to start gender testing for athletes who compete in women’s sports. The request for a temporary injunction adds a ...The Hill - 42m -
USAID aid freeze triggers health care crisis in Africa
USAID's 90-day freeze on all services has resulted in a significant loss of trust, critical health care, food aid, and medical supplies, causing life-threatening consequences for Malawian patients, ...The Hill - 48m -
US Marshals Service deputizes Musk's security team: reports
The U.S. Marshals Service has deputized some of tech billionaire Elon Musk's private security detail, giving them specific rights and protections of federal law enforcement agents, multiple outlets ...The Hill - 50m