Department of Government Efficiency employees continue to work for the White House despite the current government shutdown and former leader Elon Musk no longer being involved.
Bloomberg reported Friday that 45 DOGE staffers are exempt from being furloughed even though President Donald Trump and Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought have indicated a desire to fire federal workers after Democrats refused to support a continuing resolution and forced a government shutdown.
The staffers work in the U.S. DOGE Service, a component within the Executive Office of the President.
A memo from White House Office of Administration Director Joshua Fisher released Thursday detailed the staffing plan during the shutdown, Bloomberg noted.
Fisher’s memo did not explain why the DOGE staffers were exempt from furloughs. However, DOGE’s predecessor office, the U.S. Digital Service, remained open through previous shutdowns because it had a separate source of funding from fees it charged other government agencies for its work, Bloomberg reported.
Musk left the government in May after DOGE eliminated thousands of jobs and canceled billions of dollars in spending but fell far short of the Tesla and SpaceX CEO’s lofty initial promises.
Compared to a 2018 federal shutdown during his first term, Trump has furloughed 514 fewer White House staffers this time around.
DOGE is among the offices fully open during the shutdown’s first week.
OMB has kept 437 employees on duty, compared with 161 under the 2018 plan.
The president’s immediate White House staff has 175 aides still working. That’s slightly more than the 156 in 2018.
Trump has retained 40 workers in the executive residence. That’s almost double the number during the 2018 shutdown.
The White House press office is using an automated out-of-office reply during the shutdown.
“Due to staff shortages resulting from the Democrat Shutdown, the typical 24/7 monitoring of this press inbox may experience delays,” the message said. “Thank you for your attention to this matter.”
Reuters contributed to this report.
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