Trump order calls for creation of DOGE-linked agency payment-tracking systems; OPM signals broad agency layoffs, reorganization in new memo

Federal agencies will be required to build centralized systems to track every payment they issue for contracts, grants and other expenditures under an executive order issued Wednesday. President Donald Trump’s order calls for each agency head to team with that agency’s assigned DOGE team lead in building the new IT system. Each payment would be submitted to the system and include “a brief, written justification” from the agency staffer who signed off on the expenditure. The systems would include a built-in mechanism to allow the agency head to pause and quickly review payments that are submitted without a written justification. As part of the buildout of the new system, agency heads and DOGE team leads will be required to review “all existing covered contracts and grants,” with the option to “terminate or modify” those agreements “where appropriate and consistent with applicable law,” the order states.

The Trump administration is asking federal agencies to submit reductions in force and reorganization plans by March 13, setting the stage for more workforce terminations. A memo from the Office of Personnel Management sent Wednesday tells agency heads that their plans to reduce the workforce and reorganize departments are required to comply with the executive order to implement the White House’s Department of Government Efficiency and its mission to optimize the federal workforce. Agencies have to seek reductions in non-critical agency components and enable staff to focus on “higher-value activities,” the memo states. The department heads are encouraged to collaborate with agency-assigned DOGE counterparts on the agency RIF and reorganization plans, identifying specific competitive areas where positions are not typically designated as essential during appropriation lapses.

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