GAO Finds Oversight Gaps in Ethics Records for 206 DOGE Personnel

A Government Accountability Office review found that federal agencies lacked enough documentation to determine whether all 206 Department of Government Efficiency personnel who held positions in or through the Executive Office of the President completed required ethics and records-management activities.

The report, DOGE: Information on Personnel and Ethics Activities (GAO-26-108403), was published and publicly released on August 5, 2026. GAO reviewed personnel who held EOP positions from January 20, 2025, through January 31, 2026, and used July 23, 2026, as the cutoff for agency responses.

What GAO could and could not verify

GAO identified at least 27 of the 206 personnel as special government employees, a category that can allow a person to continue private employment while performing temporary federal duties. Special government employee status can raise conflict-of-interest questions, but it is not itself evidence of misconduct or an undisclosed conflict.

At least 128 of the identified personnel had separated from their EOP positions by January 31, 2026. The 206-person total does not include DOGE personnel who worked at federal agencies but never held positions in EOP. GAO also said the total may omit people who were not identified through court filings or agency responses available by July 23, 2026.

EOP officials told GAO that DOGE personnel received the same ethics and records-management training as other EOP personnel. EOP did not, however, provide the requested training records or financial disclosures. GAO therefore could not verify through documentation how many EOP personnel completed those activities.

GAO contacted 25 executive agencies outside EOP. Nine provided information for 64 personnel, six reported that no personnel met GAO’s review criteria, and 10 had not provided the requested information on time or at all as of July 23.

The nine responding agencies reported that 49 personnel completed ethics training, 18 completed records-management training and 38 filed financial disclosures with those agencies during the review period. GAO said some of the agency records were incomplete, and those figures are partial counts rather than a governmentwide compliance rate.

Why the records matter

The Office of Government Ethics says agency ethics officials are responsible for providing ethics training, collecting and reviewing financial disclosure reports, advising employees about potential conflicts and maintaining agency ethics programs.

Financial disclosures can help ethics officials identify potential conflicts involving assets, liabilities, outside positions and other financial interests. They can also support steps such as recusals, divestitures or restrictions on outside activities when a conflict risk is identified.

Records-management training serves a separate accountability purpose. The National Archives and Records Administration says agency personnel with email accounts or information-technology access must complete records-management training within 60 days of employment and annual refresher training thereafter. Properly preserved records can be needed for congressional oversight, litigation, public access and later reviews of government decisions.

GAO said some personnel detailed from one agency to another may have been expected to complete ethics and records-management activities through their home agencies. Under guidance described in the report, home agencies generally remain responsible for detailees’ ethics training and financial disclosures, although they may confirm that the receiving agency provided appropriate training.

What the report says about oversight

GAO also interviewed officials from OGE and the National Archives about their roles. OGE officials told GAO that the office has limited responsibilities concerning DOGE personnel and does not oversee executive-branch employees directly. They said OGE had not reviewed the EOP ethics program since 2023 and had no plans to review the temporary U.S. DOGE Service organization during the next four years because that organization terminated on July 4, 2026.

The report does not establish that all 206 personnel failed to complete required activities. It also does not establish widespread ethics violations, undisclosed conflicts, criminal conduct or legal liability. Its finding is narrower: the available records were insufficient to verify compliance for the full group.

What happens next

The next developments to watch include agency responses to GAO, additional records releases, congressional oversight and any follow-up involving OGE or the National Archives. The central accountability question is whether the government can document the ethics, disclosure and records-management steps taken by personnel who held roles in federal policy and operations.

Sources

• Government Accountability Office report GAO-26-108403
• Office of Government Ethics ethics-program guidance
• National Archives records-management training bulletin
• Government Executive independent report

Look for updates to this story

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