EXCLUSIVE — Incoming Trump administration officials and GOP lawmakers are contacting conservative nonprofit groups to facilitate research for the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, illustrating the wide scope of the new cost-cutting effort, according to 10 people familiar with the discussions.
Ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, conservative groups are informally providing guidance to incoming officials at the White House’s budget office and members of Congress on spending areas they view as left-leaning and wasteful. The groups are not being paid for this work, viewing it as in alignment with their missions as charities registered with the IRS.
The groups are crafting spreadsheets on federal funding to hand over to officials on Trump’s first day in office and flagging “woke” spending examples to incoming DOGE leaders Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk, according to several of the groups, documents outlining their plans, and sources familiar with the conversations who were not authorized to speak publicly.
Some of the conservative organizations and their researchers expect they will be briefing agencies in Washington on spending areas they believe should be investigated, the Washington Examiner has learned.
DOGE, which is expected to dispatch unpaid representatives to federal agencies across the government, will not have the power to cut spending. Allies of Musk in Silicon Valley, including investors Marc Andreessen and Shaun Maguire, are reportedly conducting interviews for DOGE staffers. DOGE is aiming to work closely with the Office of Management and Budget, a powerful agency housed in the Executive Office of the President.
Incoming OMB officials are fielding recommendations from outside conservative groups, such as the Foundation for Government Accountability. The Florida-based think tank crafted a three-page document called “10 Smart Moves to Slash Harmful Regulations.”
The document, for example, calls for eliminating President Joe Biden’s student loan “SAVE” program, barring illegal immigrants from receiving certain tax credits, and rolling back food stamp regulations enacted under Biden.
“DOGE’s bark has already scared the career bureaucrats in Washington,” said Tarren Bragdon, the CEO and president of the Foundation for Government Accountability.
Another group, Open the Books, was contacted by Trump’s OMB pick Russell Vought to share federal spending data, according to two sources briefed on the matter. Open the Books, a Chicago-based charity, maintains extensive databases for federal and state funding on its website.
Open the Books has also been in touch with lawmakers about contributing research for DOGE, the two sources said. One of those lawmakers, Rep. Gary Palmer (R-AL), is a DOGE Caucus member who sits on the House Oversight and Energy and Commerce Committees.
Spokespeople for Vought, Palmer, and the Trump-Vance Transition did not reply to requests for comment. Open the Books declined to comment on the Vought and Palmer outreach.
“Open the Books can help DOGE create a 1989 moment for America,” said John Hart, the CEO of Open the Books. “We can tear down the Bureaucratic Wall that separates We the People from their government. Transparency cuts through government like water cuts through stone. When that steady flow finds cracks, it can wash away mighty walls of opposition and lead to sudden, dramatic change.”
Capital Research Center, a conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C., has also fielded outreach in recent weeks from lawmakers seeking advice on the DOGE effort, according to two sources. The think tank, both sources said, is expected to brief federal agencies on grants and contracts that conservatives argue are wasteful and politicized.
The think tank is planning to launch a website called DogeFiles.com and is also publishing reports on its main website with the aim of guiding DOGE. The reports, called “Anti-Energy Grants Should Be in the DOGE Crosshairs” and “DOGE and the Department of Labor,” have editor’s notes at the top of them that say they are “part of a series of investigations into federal grants to nonprofits that Capital Research Center is conducting.”
“DOGE understandably wants to scour the nonprofit world that plays such a large role in our politics and too big a role in federal spending,” said Scott Walter, the president of Capital Research Center.
“We’re grateful that incoming officials in the administration and Congress are already reaching out for our research,” Walter told the Washington Examiner. “We hope to collaborate with private citizens and other research groups to build on this critical work.”
Then there’s the Claremont Institute, a conservative think tank in California that counts various past fellows as incoming Trump administration officials. Dubbed “the nerve center of the American right,” the Claremont Institute has been in contact with those close to Ramaswamy about DOGE to offer assistance and advice, according to one source familiar with the discussions. The Claremont Institute declined to comment on the outreach.
The think tank is also working discretely on staffing agencies, including the White House, State Department, Justice Department, and Education Department, according to two people who were not authorized to speak publicly.
“We’re proud of the many talented Claremont Institute alumni, staff, and friends entering the administration to work to restore constitutionalism and the American way of life,” said Ryan Williams, the president of the Claremont Institute. “We wish them Godspeed and stand ready to help wherever we can.”
For groups like White Coat Waste Project, which says it aims to cut federal spending on animal research projects, it expects to work with lawmakers such as Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) on shaping DOGE’s priorities, White Coat Waste Project said.
White Coat Waste Project is circulating a one-page document that it calls a “Trump 2.0 Wish List” to lawmakers and incoming officials who will be working in conjunction with DOGE. The document calls to “slash taxpayer-funded dog and cat labs” as well as “taxpayer-funded Chinese animal labs,” among other touted priorities.
“We’re thrilled that Elon, Vivek, and DOGE have already targeted animal tests exposed by White Coat Waste Project, and we’re proud to have the support of leading lawmakers, DOGE decision-makers, and Trump allies to keep up this momentum and score more wins for taxpayers and animals,” said Anthony Bellotti, the president and founder of White Coat Waste Project.
DOGE, which is still in the process of scouting out talent for the expected cost-cutting initiative across the government, is working out of an office a few blocks from the White House for SpaceX, Musk’s aerospace company, the New York Times reported. In a Wall Street Journal op-ed late last year, Musk and Ramaswamy detailed their vision for DOGE, calling it a movement to cut the “entrenched and ever-growing bureaucracy” in conjunction with the White House’s OMB.
“We will focus particularly on driving change through executive action based on existing legislation rather than by passing new laws,” Musk and Ramaswamy said. “Our North Star for reform will be the U.S. Constitution, with a focus on two critical Supreme Court rulings issued during President Biden’s tenure.”
To progressive watchdog groups and Democratic lawmakers, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), there are potential conflicts of interest to be had with businessmen such as Musk and Ramaswamy working so closely with the incoming administration on DOGE. The Trump-Vance transition has insisted it “will continue to be held to the highest ethical and legal standards possible.”
Another conservative group in talks with incoming officials is the American Legislative Exchange Council, its president, Jonathan Williams, said in an interview with the Washington Examiner.
The think tank is planning to host monthly phone calls with members of Congress and state legislators on government efficiency. In December of last year, Ramaswamy spoke at an ALEC event on DOGE.
“We’ve been in touch with several key players in the DOGE effort and continue to have conversations on Capitol Hill,” Williams said. “We look forward to working with OMB and others on that effort.”
In the telling of Williams, the DOGE movement will extend beyond the Beltway. The Foundation for Government Accountability, the Florida-based think tank, has called for states to champion their own versions of DOGE. This week, Gov. Kim Reynolds (R-IA) said she will sign an order creating a DOGE task force.
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“This effort is collaborative in taking ideas from a decentralized marketplace of ideas,” Williams said.
Attorneys for Musk and Ramaswamy did not reply to requests for comment.