Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is giving the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team at the Pentagon greater influence over unclassified contracting efforts.
In a May 27 memo, Hegseth informed senior Defense Department (DoD) leaders and agency directors that DOGE personnel will be able to review all unclassified contract requirements packages including reviewing performance work statements, cost estimates, deliverable descriptions, and validation documents before the materials are sent to a DoD contracting office or a non-DoD agency like the General Services Administration.
The under secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment will also work with DOGE to make sure their input is considered early in the contract planning process.
The DOGE team also will review any proposed change orders or supplemental agreement modifications to existing unclassified contracts that would increase the contract’s price. The review process applies to procurement actions that are already in progress, as long as a contract has not yet been awarded as of the memo’s date.
To facilitate the DOGE team’s expanded role, the directive from Hegseth also outlines a mechanism to speed up their input. If the team does not respond within two business days of receiving a review package, the procurement effort will “proceed as normal.”
However, the memo does not detail what steps would follow if DOGE flagged concerns during its review. Hegseth has tasked the undersecretary for acquisition and sustainment with establishing a new workflow process alongside DOGE within two weeks.
Some procurement efforts are exempt from the new policy, including contracts related to emergency or contingency operations, activities conducted outside the U.S. and its territories, and those with an estimated total value under $1 million.
The memo comes as billionaire Elon Musk’s tenure as a “special government employee” ended on May 30. Despite his departure, Musk wrote Wednesday on his X social media platform that “The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government.”
In a video message released alongside the memo, Hegseth said the DOGE efforts mark a broader transformation at the Pentagon.
“We’re just getting started,” he said.