News Analysis
President Donald J. Trump has gotten off to a running start. Swift moves by his new administration have upended Washington, D.C.—including for the federal employees who dominate the capital.
One major factor is the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The time-limited commission, led by Elon Musk and enmeshed in the Executive Office of the President, has trained its gaze on everything from the Commerce Department to the Federal Aviation Administration with the goal of making government leaner and more effective, drawing pushback and accusations of illegality.
DOGE’s access to Treasury payment system data spurred Democrats to try to enter the Treasury Building on Feb. 4, along with a lawsuit from federal employee unions. Democrats’ and unions’ Feb. 5 demonstration outside the Labor Department, which Musk planned on visiting that day, came alongside a similar lawsuit by labor groups to bar DOGE from obtaining that department’s data….