The Independent Agencies
| Date | Short | Agency | DOGE Staff |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2/20 | USADF |
U.S. African Development Foundation | Jacob Altik, Nate Cavanaugh, Peter Marocco, Ethan Shaotran |
| 2/28 | IAF |
Inter-American Foundation | Nate Cavanaugh, Peter Marocco, Ethan Shaotran |
| c.3/01 | Global Media |
US Agency for Global Media | Gavin Kliger, Tarak Makecha |
| 3/04 | USIP |
US Institute of Peace | Nate Cavanaugh, Kenneth Jackson |
| c.3/13 | NEH |
National Endowment for the Humanities | Nate Cavanaugh, Justin Fox |
| 3/20 | IMLS |
Institute for Museum and Library Services | Nate Cavanaugh, Gavin Hamrick, Keith Sonderling |
| 3/22 | MCC |
Millennium Challenge Corporation | Nate Cavanaugh, Justin Fox |
| c.3/28 | FTC |
Federal Trade Commission | Emily Bryant, Gavin Kliger |
| 3/31 | Wilson Ctr. |
Woodrow Wilson Intl. Center for Scholars | Justin Fox |
| c.4/17 | MBDA |
Minority Business Development Agency | Nate Cavanaugh, Keith Sonderling |
| 4/04 | FCC |
Federal Communications Commission | Jacob Altik, Tarak Makecha, Jordan Wick |
| 4/04 | Peace Corps |
Peace Corps | Bridget Youngs |
| c.4/05 | SEC |
Securities and Exchange Commission | Jonathan Mendelson, Eliezer Mishory |
| 4/10 | FDIC |
Federal Deposit Insurance Commission | Anthony Armstrong, Brooks Morgan, Adam Ramada |
| 4/14 | NSF |
National Science Foundation | Luke Farritor, Rachel Riley, Zach Terrell |
| 4/28 | DFC |
US International Development Finance Corporation | Nate Cavanaugh, Jonathan Mendelson, Ethan Shaotran, Marshall Wood |
| 5/14 | EXIM |
Export-Import Bank of the United States | Nate Cavanaugh, Donald Park |
| 5/21 | MSPB |
Merit System Protection Board | Nate Cavanaugh |
| 7/11 | NRC |
Nuclear Regulatory Commission | Adam Blake |
Over the past decade, Congress has established multiple independent agencies that are supposed to be insulated from interference from the Executive Branch in how they operate. Many of these are small and specialized and relatively unknown to the general public. That hasn’t stopped DOGE from interfering with them, in a coordinated effort with the White House that usually included the following steps:
- President Trump will issue an executive order targeting one or more independent agencies by name (e.g., this executive order that targeted the USIP, USADF and IAF). This is meant to provide the legal cover.
- A DOGE team (usually led by Nate Cavanaugh) then makes contact with the agency, usually under the usual pretenses of “IT modernization” and convinces/threatens them to sign an MOU detailing DOGE to the agency
- If the agency is governed by a board of directors, White House lawyer Trent Morse will email enough of the board to eliminate quorum with a message telling them that their employment has been terminated by the President. If the board has a partisan split, these will always be the Democratic-appointed members first. The goal is to either render the board inert or make it a puppet for whatever DOGE wants
- Once inside, DOGE will often move quickly to seize control of the agency’s financial systems and emails. Staff are immediately placed on indefinite administrative leave to prevent them from acting against them or monitoring what happens. DOGE will then send emails to terminate a large portion of grants with the justification that they no longer “effectuate administration priorities”
- DOGE will then proceed with plan to conduct a massive layoff (known as a Reduction in Force or RIF in government terminology) to reduce the agency to the bare minimum of staff needed to meet its “statutory requirements.” Much like obscenity, this is a seemingly precise definition that is remarkably arbitrary and in some cases, DOGE have used this justification to reduce an agency to a single person. Thus far, these arguments have not prevailed in court, but DOGE is hoping for a lucky break on this in a higher appeals court or the Supreme Court. Regardless, the agency is left functionally inert and unable to fulfill any of its duties towards the American public.
DOGE honed its moves against independent agencies by first attacking USAID and CFPB, and details on those can be found on their respective pages. This page is going to look at a flurry of individual incidents against each agency.
Phases of Attack
2/19: “Commencing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy”
The pattern of assaulting independent agencies began with an Executive Order “Commencing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy” issued on 2025-02-19 that mandated that “The non-statutory components and functions of the following governmental entities shall be eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law” for the Presidio Trust, Inter-American Foundation, United States African Development Foundation and US Institute of Peace. This was followed by DOGE taking over the various agencies.
It started with the US African Development Foundation and the Inter-American Foundation. Both are small independent agencies established by Congress to invest in projects in the developing world. Thanks to litigation, we have some visibility into how events unfolded.
| Agency | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
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2/19
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||
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2/19
|
Official:
Trump issues an Executive Order “Commencing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy” targeting the Presidio Trust, the Inter-American Foundation, the United States African Development Foundation and the United States Institute of Peace for reductions.
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2/20
|
Sighting:
IAF President Sara Aviel learns that DOGE will be visiting her agency. That afternoon, she meets Nate Cavanaugh and Ethan Shaotran who both represent they are from the GSA. They showed little interest in efficiency initiatives at the agency and just wanted access to systems.
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2/20
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Sighting:
Chris Young meets with USADF leadership at their HQ to “introduce DOGE to the agency” and that 2 engineers would be assigned there
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2/21
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2/21
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Sighting:
Ethan Shaotran, Jacob Altik, and Nate Cavanaugh arrive at the agency and demand that a MOU must be signed for their detail assignment
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2/21
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||
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2/21
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Access:
Nate Cavanaugh and Jacob Altik then demanded immediate access to USADF systems including financial records and payment and human resources systems. They were told they had to go through standard clearance process.
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2/21
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Disruption:
Jacob Altik demands waivers to exempt DOGE staff from background checks, threatens to fire USADF board if demands are not materials.
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2/21
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||
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2/21
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Interagency:
Ethan Shaotran and Nate Cavanaugh return to the IAF with Jacob Altik, who presented himself as representing the EOP. Altik confirms that DOGE plans to reduce IAF to what he considers the statutory minimum (a board and president, a location in DC, some grants) and DOGE will be conducting a Reduction in Force of all employees and terminating all grants. The demand approval from the board and threaten the board will be fired otherwise.
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2/24
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2/24
|
Disruption:
The IAF President Sara Aviel reports her findings on a call with Nate Cavanaugh and Jacob Altik, who claim that all but one of the board members have been terminated. They demand that Aviel approves DOGE’s plan for the agency, which she declines to do, and that she sign a MOU assigning a DOGE member to the agency and granting them access to systems. After the call, she confirms that no board members had received a termination notice.
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2/24
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Disruption:
USADF president/CEO Ward Brehm receives an email from Trent Morse in the White House Personnel Office notifying him that he is removed from tbe board.
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2/26
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2/26
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Disruption:
Sara Aviel receives an email from Trent Morse informing her that Trump has now terminated her position.
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2/28
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Disruption:
Trent Morse sends an email to the office director at the IAF that states that Peter Marocco has been appointed the acting Chairman
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2/28
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Disruption:
Peter Marocco declares an emergency board meeting (where the emergency is Trump issued an executive order), claiming that means he does not need to inform the board with a 1-week notice as required. In attendance at the meeting are Ethan Shaotran and Nate Cavanaugh. This is where he declares himself the new President and Acting CIO.
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2/28
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Disruption:
Peter Marocco declares an emergency board meeting (where the emergency is Trump issued an executive order), claiming that means he does not need to inform the board with a 1-week notice as required. In attendance at the meeting are Ethan Shaotran and Nate Cavanaugh. This is where he declares himself the new President and Acting CIO.
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2/28
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Disruption:
USADF Managing Director of Finance Mathieu Zahui receives an email from Trent Morse informing him the USADF is “boardless” and naming Peter Marocco as acting chair. Zahui informs them appointment would require senate confirmation first.
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3/03
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3/04
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Disruption:
Peter Marocco announces himself to staff as President/CEO, begins dismantling all contracts, places all staff on administrative leave for 30 days
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3/04
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3/04
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3/04
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Disruption:
Peter Marocco sends emails terminating all of IAF’s existing grants except one (which was mostly over)
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3/04
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Disruption:
USADF CFO Mathieu Zahui receives an email from Nate Cavanaugh informing him that Peter Marocco would be coming to the office the following day as Chairman of the Board
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c.3/05
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Disruption:
Peter Marocco names the remaining employee, the Chief Information Security Officer, as the new President of the IAF
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3/05
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Disruption:
Nate Cavanaugh sends Ward Brehm an email demanding to know by what authority he is the President/CFO of USADF
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3/05
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Disruption:
Jacob Altik and Ethan Shaotran are rebuffed by agency leadership when attempting to enter the agency
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3/06
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Disruption:
DOGE staff Jacob Altik and Ethan Shaotran return joined by Nate Cavanaugh with US marshals to force entry to the agency
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3/10
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Onboard:
The Trump Administration nominates Kenneth Jackson and Russell Vought to be on the board of the IAF
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3/10
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Onboard:
Trump admin nominates Laken Rapier and Russell Vought to be on the board of the USADF
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4/04
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4/04
|
Legal:
Sara Aviel discovers that a team@iaf.gov created for the use of Ethan Shaotran and Nate Cavanaugh had deactivated the admin access for the remaining IAF employee that day before Aviel’s return
|
The next target outlined in the executive order was the US Institute of Peace. Thanks to testimony entered in the lawsuit of United States Institute of Peace v. Jackson (D.D.C.), we have a remarkably detailed timeline for the DOGE assault on the US Institute of Peace:
| Agency | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
|
2/19
|
Official:
Trump issues an Executive Order “Commencing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy” targeting the Presidio Trust, the Inter-American Foundation, the United States African Development Foundation and the United States Institute of Peace for reductions.
|
|
|
2/24
|
||
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2/24
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||
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3/05
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||
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3/08
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||
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3/09
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||
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3/14
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||
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3/14
|
Disruption:
DOGE members Kenneth Jackson, Jacob Altik and Nate Cavanaugh show up at USIP building with 2 other people claiming to be FBI agents and are refused entry. They attempted to present a document firing the USIP president.
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3/16
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3/16
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3/16
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||
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3/16
|
Disruption:
At 6pm, all Inter-Con staff are removed from the building, all keycard access is revoked and all physical keys accounted for except for one held by the Inter-Con account manager for USIP
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3/17
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Disruption:
At 2:30pm, the Inter-Con account manager and employees attempt to enter the building with key cards and are denied. They use the physical key to enter once the account manager arrives with it.
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3/17
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||
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3/17
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3/17
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||
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3/17
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3/17
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Disruption:
DOGE members Kenneth Jackson, Jacob Altik and Nate Cavanaugh remove staff and president of the USIP with the help of Office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, the FBI and D.C. police
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3/17
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||
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3/19
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Disruption:
DOGE-affiliated staff start removing interior signage from the USIP building
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3/19
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Legal:
Judge Beryl Howell presides over an emergency hearing on granting USIP’s request for a temporary restraining order against DOGE, but doesn’t grant a temporary restraining order
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3/20
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||
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3/25
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Interagency:
Nate Cavanaugh contacts the administrator of the GSA to propose transferring the USIP building to them, arguing that USIP won’t need a building because the statute doesn’t mandate it has one or staffing
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3/28
|
Disruption:
Almost all USIP HQ staff (200-300 people) receive termination notices late on a Friday night
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4/01
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Disruption:
Defendants in the USIP lawsuit learn that GSA will be leasing the building to the Department of Labor
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5/19
|
Legal:
The judge presiding over the USIP’s lawsuit against the Trump administration found ruled that the firing of the agency’s board was illegal, rendering all subsequent actions taken by Nate Cavanaugh for DOGE as null and void.
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5/21
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Official:
The US Institute of Peace retook control of its headquarters and re-entered the premises for the first time since being escorted out in DOGE’s takeover
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5/21
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6/27
|
Legal:
A federal appeals court issued a stay on a lower-court ruling that blocked DOGE from taking over the USIP. In their ruling, they appeals panel noted that President Trump would face “irreparable harm from not being able to fully exercise his executive powers,” should the injunction be allowed to stand.
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7/12
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3/14: “Continuing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy”
In another executive order “Continuing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy”, the Trump administration amplified the tactics of the first order, both by widening the number of agencies being examined and reducing the timeframes for their compliance. This order targeted the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, the United States Agency for Global Media (aka Voice of America), the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in the Smithsonian Institution, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund; and the Minority Business Development Agency.
| Agency | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
|
c.3/01
|
||
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3/14
|
Official:
Trump issues a new executive order proclaiming that the IMLS among other agencies must be reduced to statutory functions only
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3/15
|
Disruption:
In response to Trump’s second executive order against independent agencies, virtually the entire staff of Voice of America (more than 1300 people) are placed on indefinite admininstrative leave.
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3/15
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Disruption:
In response to Trump’s executive order targeting independent agencies, Trump’s senior advisor at the agency, Kari Lake, sends out termination notices for all grants to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks. It is unclear if she has the authority to issue such terminations.
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3/19
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3/20
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Sighting:
DOGE arrives at IMLS HQ and are startled to find staff there. They quickly swear in Keith Sonderling as acting director of IMLS and then leave.
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3/20
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Official:
After being sworn in as the acting director of the IMLS, Keith Sonderling issues a statement that he “will revitalize IMLS and restore focus on patriotism, ensuring we preserve our country’s core values, promote American exceptionalism and cultivate love of country in future generations.”
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3/31
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3/31
|
Access:
DOGE gains admin access to IMLS systems for monitoring grants and sending emails. This is likely Nate Cavanaugh.
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3/31
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3/31
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4/01
|
Disruption:
Mark Green, a Republican who once worked for Trump, is forced out as the head of the Wilson Center. Several members of the board were also reportedly fired earlier.
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4/02
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4/09
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4/09
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Disruption:
All but 5 employees are sent expedited 30-day termination notices and placed on immediate administrative leave
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c.4/09
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4/17
|
Disruption:
According to a sworn declaration by an employee of MBDA, Nate Cavanaugh sends emails terminating MBDA grants under the authority of Keith Sonderling as acting undersecretary of the MBDA
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4/30
|
Oversight:
Democratic members of the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation send a letter to Keith Sonderling requesting details on his appointment as acting undersecretary of the MBDA and other information about DOGE’s takeover and destruction of the agency.
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5/02
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5/13
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5/15
|
Disruption:
The US Agency for Global Media starts sending termination notices to contractors, some of whom are on J1 visas and would be forced to leave the country within 30 days
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6/06
|
Disruption:
Analysis by a USAGM grantee based on public data reveals that China has expanded its own propaganda and programming to counter the void left by the closure of Radio Free Asia
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6/14
|
Report:
Surprised by Israel’s strikes on Iran and unable to counter Iranian programming, the Voice of America orders all of its Farsi-speaking members of the Voice of America’s Persian wing immediately back to work after being on administrative leave for several months.
|
From there, it’s just been open season on every independent agency from DOGE. Here are the attacks grouped by agency types.
Targeting the Arts
The arts have been a natural target for DOGE, which shares the Trump Administration’s disdain for supporting the arts, unless it’s the creation of statues for a garden of American heroes. To be clear, there have been many assaults on arts organizations outside of DOGE’s involvement - just recently, Trump has attempted to oust the head of the National Portrait Gallery for instance - but there have been a few organizations that have seen DOGE target them specifically:
| Agency | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
|
1/29
|
Disruption:
The Smithsonian Institution announces it is closing a diversity office and freezing all federal hiring. It is not a federal agency, but most of its funding comes from appropriaions and two-thirds of staff are federal workers.
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|
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3/12
|
Disruption:
Shelly C. Lowe, the chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities, is forced out of her position by President Trump
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3/12
|
Disruption:
DOGE staffers Nate Cavanaugh and Justin Fox contact NEH IT for access immediately after the removal of the agency’s chair
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4/01
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||
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4/01
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4/02
|
Disruption:
Approximately 1500 grantees receive grant cancellation emails sent from a nonstandard email address and bypassing the normal grant review process. The email address Grant_Notifications@nehemail.onmicrosoft.com suggests it was sent from a global admin account for Microsoft Entra at the agency. The Acting Director of the NEH seems unaware of the messages. Content of the message cites an incorrect executive order, suggesting it was copied from an earlier email sent to IAF or USADF grantees.
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4/03
|
Disruption:
145 NEH staff members (approximately 80% of workforce) are abruptly placed on administrative leave. The remaining employees are pressured by Nate Cavanaugh and Justin Fox to formally conduct a Reduction-in-Force (RIF) as quickly as possible
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4/10
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||
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4/17
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4/18
|
Sighting:
DOGE staff reportedly meet with the leaders of the Smithsonian’s National Gallery of Art to discuss its legal status and funding. The National Gallery of Art is not an executive agency.
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4/23
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Sighting:
After an initial video call, DOGE arrives at the agency offices for the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation
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4/24
|
Disruption:
NEH posts a solicitation for up to $17 million in grants for statues in a “National Garden of American Heroes.” Such grants would normally be made by the NEA, which is also offering similar grants for this project. Most NEH grants are dispersed broadly across many projects and for no more than $500K.
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4/28
|
Disruption:
Three members of the board for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting receive an email from Trent Morse at the White House informing them that they have been fired. This renders the board inert without quorum.
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4/29
|
Interagency:
Nate Cavanaugh sends an email to the two remaining members of the CPB board requesting a meeting. He describes a DOGE team at GSA and cc’s several other members of DOGE
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4/29
|
Legal:
Citing as evidence the harm inflicted by DOGE against the USIP, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting receives a temporary restraining order from a judge until its case can be heard in May.
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5/01
|
Official:
Trump issues an executive order commanding that Corporation for Public Broadcasting should cease any financial support for PBS and NPR, despite CPB being an independent agency.
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5/02
|
Finance and Regulations
DOGE has also attempted to target several financial and trade regulatory agencies
| Agency | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
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3/28
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||
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4/04
|
Sighting:
Axios reports that Gavin Kliger and Emily Bryant have started work at the FTC, looking at grants and contracts
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4/10
|
Sighting:
Brooks Morgan, Adam Ramada and Anthony Armstrong visit the FDIC headquarters. Their arrival is later confirmed for staff with an email stating they have not been granted access to any sensitive bank information.
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|
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4/15
|
||
|
4/30
|
Disruption:
FEC staffers receive an email stating they will be required to send daily updates of their location as part of a new Daily Occupancy Tool that will possibly be rolled out across the government by the GSA
|
|
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5/08
|
||
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5/08
|
||
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5/09
|
Sighting:
With the board now fired, DOGE staff are granted access to the Consumer Product Safety Commission
|
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5/14
|
Sighting:
Nate Cavanaugh and Donald Park reportedly have email addresses and reserved office space at the Export-Import Bank of the US
|
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|
5/20
|
Official:
A memo directed to NRC from the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) declares that OIRA should have oversight over regulations made at the independent agency and NRC staff “may not know or be privy to the bases for OMB decisions for why an action is significant.”
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|
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5/21
|
||
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5/31
|
Official:
President Trump issues EO 14300, which orders the NRC to relax its regulatory oversight over the nuclear industry. It also demands that the agency must plan for a reduction in force and realign its priorities. Following the model used for other independent agencies, this is probably the prelude for DOGE to arrive at the agency.
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|
|
6/16
|
Disruption:
Trent Morse sends a letter firing one of the five members of the board (and the only Biden appointee) for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
|
|
|
7/01
|
||
|
7/11
|
Sighting:
In a written response to questions from the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, the nominee to head the NRC reveals there is currently one DOGE staffer (reported as Adam Blake) detailed to the agency from the Department of Energy to reform the agency as ordered by EO 14300.
|
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation has also found itself under the thumb of DOGE, with Luke Farritor leading a delegation of people from HHS to scrutinize all their funding. Their target is to cut all grant funding by 55%, which will have a catastrophic effect on science in America.
| Agency | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
|
4/14
|
Sighting:
Three unidentified DOGE staffers show up at NSF headquarters, forcing all approved grants to go through a “secondary review.” They were later identified as Luke Farritor, Rachel Riley and Zach Terrell.
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|
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4/22
|
Directory:
Three DOGE staffers are now at the National Science Foundation reviewing grants. Luke Farritor has a “Budget, Finance, and Administration” clearance, which a source said allows him to view and modify the agency’s funding opportunity system.
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|
|
6/25
|
Disruption:
In a surprise move, the Republican governor of Virginia, the head of public buildings service at GSA and the Commissioner for HUD announce that they will be kicking out the National Science Foundation (NSF) from its Virginia headquarters and moving HUD there. There are no details provided on where NSF is expected to relocate to.
|
Service Organizations
Service organizations have also been a focus of the Trump Administration’s ire. Recently, there have been moves to shut down the funding and staffing for the Peace Corps and the AmeriCorps, with vague allegations of fraud used as a cover for sweeping reductions.
| Agency | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
|
4/10
|
Disruption:
AmeriCorps’ acting director submits a plan to the OPM and OMB proposing a 50% cut in the agency workforce
|
|
|
4/16
|
Disruption:
Agency staff at AmeriCorps are placed on immediate administrative leave and banned from accessing agency systems
|
|
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4/25
|
Disruption:
DOGE staff within AmeriCorps start terminating roughly $400 million in grants (roughly 41% of the total grant funding) to 1,031 organizations across America because their award “no longer effectuates agency priorities.”
|
Legislative Branch Agencies
In one of DOGE’s most bizarre turns, thet have attempted to embed DOGE teams into the Library of Congress and Government Accountability Office (GAO). The problem is that both of these are legislative branch agencies and thus well outside the authority of DOGE to police them or shut them down.
| Agency | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
|
5/13
|
Sighting:
Justin Fox emails GAO (cc’ing Nate Cavanaugh) to schedule a call to get a DOGE team assigned to the GAO. This is despite the GAO being located in the legislative branch and thus not answerable to the President.
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5/16
|
Merit System Protection Board
Finally, DOGE has picked up its original mission of harrassing federal workers by attempting to shut down the Merit System Protection Board (MSPB), which ensures that government personnel rules are fairly enforced.
| Agency | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
|
5/16
|
Sighting:
Staff at the MSPB receive an email informing them that Nate Cavanaugh will be onboarded on May 21 as a detailee “from DOGE” and that he is expected to spend several weeks reviewing contracts and spending. He will be working remotely.
|