Jacob Harris, DOGE Track: “We are now several months into the second Trump presidency. It’s been hard keeping track of all that is being damaged and lost within the federal government. Emboldened by Musk and the absence of oversight, the so-called “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) has been rampaging through agencies to subvert their security, cancel contracts, fire staff and siphon up confidential data into large data warehouses. It’s going to take years to both undo the damage and for any of them to face consequences. As someone who has spent the past decade of my live in Civic Tech, this has been extremely demoralizing to watch. Not only are they destroying vital government services, they’re undermining the idea that technology can serve the public good. I feel compelled to bear witness to this moment. But, I’m not particularly good at writing commentary. I’m no longer adjacent enough to journalism that I can report on what is happening. However, I do enjoy working with data and seeing what patterns will emerge over time from data collection and analysis.

What You’ll Find Here. This is the public-facing version of a deeper data-collection project that I have been working on since early February. I have been evolving my data collection over time to track the following information about DOGE’s activities:

• The names and placements of DOGE staff across the federal government
• Significant events at each agency
• Systems that have been accessed by DOGE and the possible risks
• Court cases that are linked to DOGE activities
• Possible identification of DOGE staff who have been masked in FOIA requests and legal documents
• Significant records related to hiring and detailing arrangements…”