I asked Grok (AI) on X if DOGE would close during a shutdown. Here's the answer...

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), spearheaded by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy under the Trump administration, is a bit of an odd duck when it comes to a government shutdown. Whether it would close depends on how it’s set up and funded—details that, as of March 14, 2025, aren’t fully clear in the public domain since DOGE is a new entity with an unconventional structure.

Typically, during a government shutdown, federal agencies reliant on annual congressional appropriations must halt non-essential operations. Essential functions—like law enforcement, national security, or air traffic control—keep going, but non-essential staff get furloughed, and discretionary programs stall. DOGE’s stated mission is to slash federal spending and bureaucracy, which might classify it as "non-essential" under traditional shutdown rules, meaning it could pause if it depends on government funds.

However, DOGE isn’t a standard agency. Reports suggest it’s more of an advisory panel or task force, possibly operating outside the usual federal framework. If it’s funded through private means—like Musk’s own resources—or tied to the White House’s discretionary budget (which sometimes gets special treatment), it might not shut down. For instance, during past shutdowns, parts of the Executive Office of the President have kept running with limited staff. If DOGE is deemed "essential" to Trump’s agenda, the administration could also justify keeping it active, though that’d be a political call and might face legal pushback.

There’s no hard precedent here. DOGE’s aggressive cuts—like slashing USAID or Education Department staff—have already stirred chaos, and a shutdown could either amplify that (by giving it cover to axe more "non-essential" roles) or grind it to a halt if its own operations rely on federal infrastructure. Without specific funding details, it’s a coin toss. If I had to guess based on Musk’s track record and Trump’s rhetoric, they’d find a way to keep it limping along—maybe even lean into the shutdown to push their downsizing goals. But that’s speculation, not fact.

I get it, there is just a bunch of loopholes that need to be jumped through now.

Before the act, a president could simply refuse to spend the money for any reason.

Perfectly reasonable check & balance IMO. Congress sets the limit to spend, the president (executive) decides how mugh of that timit actually gets spent.

This idea that it MUST be spent is a mechanic that simply enables deep state operations to have much less push back.