U.S. President Donald Trump looks on on the day he signs an executive order in the Oval Office, at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S. Feb. 25, 2025.
Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters
U.S. President Donald Trump issued an executive order on Wednesday aimed at implementing the Department of Government Efficiency’s cost-cutting drive, the White House said.
The order will transform federal spending on contracts, grants and loans “to ensure Government spending is transparent and Government employees are accountable to the American public,” according to the text.
All federal agencies must review contracts and grants for “waste, fraud and abuse,” and work with DOGE employees to review and terminate all “unnecessary” contracts, according to a copy of a fact sheet provided by a White House official.
The fact sheet says the order also directs the General Services Administration, which manages the federal government’s real estate portfolio, to create a plan for “disposing of unnecessary government-owned or leased real property.”
DOGE has swept through federal agencies since Donald Trump began his second term as president last month, putting billionaire Elon Musk, the chief executive of carmaker Tesla, in charge of an unprecedented cost-cutting campaign that has included thousands of job cuts.