The unofficial Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is likely violating the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) with their “Join DOGE” form on the doge.gov website. This rule, largely unknown by the public, was put in place in the 1980s and updated in the 1990s in order to minimize the paperwork burden on the public and the federal government. It looked to streamline information collection processes and ensure the collected information was necessary and would be used to meaningfully improve the government’s services. PRA improves government efficiency and accountability and maximizes public utility.
In order to be compliant with the Paperwork Reduction Act, all government agencies who want to collect information from more than 10 people must estimate how much burden the collection will create (the number of hours spent times the number of expected responses) and get permission from the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA).
Getting the approval can be a lengthy process (six to nine months including a public comment period), but most agencies have a generic clearance which allows them to fast track certain types of collections like forms, surveys, and usability tests. Once cleared on the fast track, generally a maximum of four days, OIRA gives the agency’s collection a control number that must be displayed with the form. The form also must have a way for the public to contact the agency regarding the collection.
A screenshot of the DOGE Join form taken on March 26, 2025 with no OIRA issued control number or way to contact DOGE about the collection
According to DOI’s website on PRA and OIRA (emphasis ours):
Compliance with the PRA is mandatory. Collecting information without clearance can open the work that comes out of it to more work, including decisions made based on the information, to legal challenge. If uncleared collections or changes are discovered, the OIRA may insist that the collections are stopped. The OMB reports PRA violations to Congress and the President in their annual report, “Information Collection Budget.”
Sometimes the best way to do things efficiently means being knowledgeable about a process and working within the bounds of that process to improve it and make it work better for you. One recent example of this is the work of former U.S. Digital Service staff who collaborated with OIRA to clarify and improve the guidance for doing usability tests while remaining compliant with PRA regulations. These clarifications helped agencies conduct usability testing more quickly and effectively and allowed agencies to make improvements and provide better service to their customers, make changes iteratively, and deploy final revisions to a form, website, or other service without unnecessary delay.
If DOGE is a government agency, then the rules and regulations that apply to government agencies are applicable to DOGE. If DOGE would like to know more about how the government works, please let us (We The Builders) know and we would be happy to make sure that your engagements with the public are lawful, transparent, and efficient. We would hate for you to have to throw out all those applications from such a potential hardcore applicant pool. Also, glad to see you are hiring designers again. A designer or two might help you improve the accessibility of your form and encourage you to include information about your compliance with the Equal Opportunity Employment Act, which is also currently a law in America.