The U.S. DOGE Service has lost the power to control the government’s process for awarding billions of dollars in federal funds, the latest sign of the team’s declining influence following Elon Musk’s high-profile exit from Washington, according to two people familiar with the situation and emails obtained by The Washington Post.
Three months ago, DOGE employees wrested control of a key federal grants website, grants.gov, which serves as a clearinghouse for more than $500 billion in annual awards, The Post reported. For most of the program’s existence, federal agencies including the Defense Department posted their funding opportunities directly to the site, where thousands of outside organizations could see and apply for them — until April, when DOGE staffers changed the website’s permissions to give themselves power to review and approve all grants across the government.
Contacted for comment Friday, the White House sent a statement attributed to an unnamed senior administration official saying DOGE will continue to “facilitate the review of grants, working alongside agency secretaries to determine which grants should continue, which should be terminated, and which require further scrutiny.”
“Robust controls remain in place, with DOGE personnel embedded at each agency, assisting secretaries’ offices in reviewing grants daily,” the statement read. “Agency secretaries and senior advisors will continue to implement and leverage the controls initially established by DOGE to reduce waste, fraud, and abuse, retaining full agency discretion to determine the appropriate flow of funds at the project level.”
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