A tale of two efficiencies: U.S. Digital Service vs. DOGE

Imagine two approaches to improving a complex machine. One involves carefully studying the blueprints, understanding how each part interacts, and making precise adjustments to optimize performance. The other involves tearing out components that look broken or superfluous at first glance, then checking to see if the machine still runs without them. In theory, either of these approaches might leave you with a more streamlined machine. The first approach will take longer, but it's a good way to avoid catastrophic failure. The second approach will be faster, and that might feel like a win at first. The machine might end up streamlined, but in practice it's more likely to just end up broken, or so fragile that it breaks later when it needs to rely on a part that's no longer there.

In the world of government modernization, this contrast mirrors the difference between the way the U.S. Digital Service has operated for the last 10 years, and how teams like DOGE operate under a "move fast and break things" mentality. It is a story of surgical precision aimed at lasting impact versus reckless destruction disguised as efficiency.

U.S. Digital Service: Precision engineering for public good

The U.S. Digital Service takes a deliberate, methodical approach to not just to fix what is broken, but to sustainibly strengthen government infrastructure well into the future. Employees begin by deeply understanding existing problems, respecting institutional knowledge, and designing solutions that integrate seamlessly with essential systems. Their approach is defined by:

• Empowering Agencies – Rather than making agencies dependent on outside consultants, teams prioritize equipping government employees with the expertise and tools to improve their own services. This builds internal capacity, enhances cost-effectiveness, and ensures that improvements endure beyond any single project.
• Transparency and Collaboration – U.S. Digital Services teams operate in full collaboration with the public and in view of key stakeholders, fostering trust and ensuring that government solutions align with real-world needs. By engaging directly with agencies, users, and states, they create solutions that reflect the complexities of service delivery rather than imposing rigid, one-size-fits-all fixes.
• Delivering Meaningful Value Rapidly – By focusing on user needs and iterating thoughtfully, the U.S. Digital Service ensures that improvements translate into immediate and tangible benefits for the American public. Their efforts are measured not just in speed but in long-term reliability and impact.

The driving force is not maximizing profit or making headlines, but enhancing the efficiency, accessibility, and effectiveness of public services. This requires a sophisticated understanding of government systems and a commitment to refining them in ways that benefit all Americans.

DOGE: Disruption without understanding

In stark contrast, DOGE has charged in with an arrogant "we know best" mentality, disregarding the complexities of government systems and the people who rely on them. Under the guise of efficiency, DOGE pursues cost-cutting measures and sweeping technology overhauls without fully considering their downstream effects. Their approach is characterized by:

• Lack of Understanding – Rather than seeking to understand why systems exist as they do, DOGE dismisses institutional knowledge, making uninformed and seemingly random changes that disrupt critical services.
• Closed-Door Decision-Making – Despite claims of transparency, DOGE operates in secrecy, making decisions without meaningful engagement from stakeholders, agencies, or the public.
• Superficial Agility – While presenting themselves as fast-moving and innovative, DOGE's solutions often lack any depth or rigor. The result is chaos and fear.
• Eroded Government Capabilities – By shifting control to unaccountable team members, DOGE weakens the government's ability to manage and sustain its own technology. This leads to increased dependence on external vendors, loss of institutional knowledge, and greater long-term costs.

The consequences of DOGE's approach are severe: broken systems, wasted taxpayer dollars, and public services that fail the very people they are meant to serve. Rather than making government more efficient, their actions dismantle agencies' ability to perform the very services they were designed to provide to help the American public.

Conclusion: Efficiency that serves the people

Efficiency can be defined as the ratio of impact vs. resources spent. By this definition, you can improve efficiency by increasing impact, reducing resources spent, or some combination of the two. Increased impact is more efficient if it doesn't cost more. And cutting costs won't improve efficiency if the result is a great loss of impact.

In other words, in the realm of government efficiency, speed alone is not enough—success is also about creating lasting impact. USDS embodies this principle, employing a precise, thoughtful approach that strengthens government agencies, delivers real value to users, and ensures that systems work better for the long haul. DOGE, on the other hand, prioritizes disruption over comprehension, leaving behind a wake of broken processes and weakened institutions.

True efficiency means making the government work better for its people—not just today, but for generations to come. USDS understands this. DOGE does not.

What we've got cooking

In the near future, we will share wins for the public over the past decade and the approaches that succeeded and some that did not. This site will also explain the issues that a short-term focused view has on the public's safety, security, and access to resources.

Are you a federal employee working in tech? We'd love to share your story--how you've made government technology better, how the public will be impacted by your dismissal, or the risks you see as DOGE takes over. Email us at [email protected], or reach out via our contact form (any stories shared with us are considered confidential and will remain anonymous).