I think the confusion is not in what the USDS does, but rather who their Play Book is intended for. Is it prescriptive or descriptive? If it's the former (as I took it) then we're not talking about the USDS itself, but the USG. If it's the latter then I defer to you, but still don't think it solves the structural problems that makes the USDS relevant in the first place.

Going back to our US Special Forces team, the US Army actually did (attempt)to solve for this by simplifying the pipeline with the 18X "X-Ray" Program.