Congressional Agency Rebuffs Trump Bid to Expand Power Grab

Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) attempted to install its own officials at the Government Accountability Office (GAO), a key legislative branch watchdog, Friday but was denied by GAO staff.

By trying to assign DOGE officials to the GAO, President Donald Trump may be attempting to assert that the congressional agency is part of the executive branch. 

The president has taken similar steps against the Library of Congress (LOC), which is also part of the legislative branch, by firing the librarian of Congress and appointing Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche in her place.

DOGE’s attempt to install officials at the GAO, which was first reported by NOTUS, was stymied by GAO staff, who asserted that the office is beyond Trump’s control, a GAO spokesperson told Democracy Docket. 

“I can confirm that GAO has been contacted by DOGE staffers seeking to assign a team to GAO citing the President’s January 20, 2025, Executive Order entitled, ‘Establishing and Implementing the “President’s Department of Government Efficiency.”’ As a legislative branch agency, GAO is not subject to Executive Orders and has therefore declined any requests to have a DOGE team assigned to GAO,” the spokesperson said.

Rep. Gerry Connolly (Va.), the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, called DOGE’s move against the GAO “a direct assault on our nation’s sacred separation of powers.”

“DOGE cannot and must not have any access to GAO. Oversight Democrats are monitoring this situation closely and stand behind GAO’s well-established status as a critical legislative branch agency,” Connolly said.

The GAO works to ensure that government funds are spent effectively and efficiently — the same goal that Musk’s DOGE purports to be pursuing. Since the start of Trump’s second term, it has also at times contradicted some of his assertions. 

Despite Trump’s and Musk’s claims of extensive governmental fraud and waste, GAO Director Rebecca Shea told NPR earlier this year that while some fraud does exist, the overwhelming majority of federal spending isn’t fraudulent.

In response to Trump’s broad freeze on federal funding, the GAO also opened almost 40 investigations to determine if the move violated federal law and the Constitution. The GAO said in April the Trump administration has largely failed to cooperate with the probes.

The GAO’s Comptroller General Gene Dodaro told lawmakers last month that it is auditing DOGE’s digital footprint across the federal government to determine what data its officials have accessed.

Trump’s brazen attempt to assert control over congressional agencies appears to have taken his allies in Congress by surprise. So far, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (S.D.) indicated, gently, that he wants to maintain Congress’ control over the LOC.

​​“We made it clear that there needs to be a consultation around this — that there are equities that both Article I and Article II branches have [with] the Library of Congress,” Thune said this week.