Elon Musk once pledged that his Department of Government Efficiency would find $1 trillion in savings in the federal budget by Sept. 30, the date the government closes its books on the fiscal year. That date has now come and gone, Musk has long since left Washington, and DOGE never came close to cutting as much money as he promised. But because its work has been obscured by crude accounting and White House maneuvers, it’s impossible to know how much DOGE and its allies actually did cut from the budget — or even what happened to that money.
It was never about budget cuts. It was about creating back doors into every US federal agency. It was about destroying critical global infrastructure and aide networks. It was about covering up Musk criminal investigations.
Sandy Buck
1w
And how much did DOGE cost the American people?
Bill Hampton
1w
Elon and his team found lots of programs to cut but getting the bureaucracy to implement these cuts has always been the issue. Possibly the recommended cuts will be implemented during the shutdown (when Democrats put the White House in-charge of implementing cuts to balance the budget). TBD
The real failure isn’t that Musk didn’t find the trillion. It’s that everyone believed he could. Government isn’t code you can debug .... it’s a living system with human costs and political inertia. Yet we keep mistaking spectacle for reform. If transparency is the new currency of trust, why does every “efficiency revolution” in governments around the globe end with more fog than clarity?
Terri M.
1w
Sounds like a heist to me
What we know that were cut were critical services, critical infrastructure, and research. This administration has accelerated American decline and few seem willing to stem the tide.
Lee Dickey
1w
There must be accountability!!! Do your job Congress!!! Follow the money!!!
I think everything they saved just went to Argentina.
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1wI would bet $1000 it wasn’t enough to cover the costs but let’s admit what we all know was the real reason and what they admitted to: it was essentially a data stealing operation to better enable them to spy and prosecute anyone they want. 20 year old kids with access to every Social Security number should enrage everyone of us.