This would be hilariously funny if it wasn’t for the fact that it was such a tragic waste of time and energy, yielding a net result of nothing but confusion and $21 Billion in additional waste. DOGE was supposed to cut government waste to a phenomenal degree. Instead, what it did was create a circus atmosphere in government where people were pink slipped and then rehired, as the DOGE gladiators continued to slash and burn, not having any remote clue what it was exactly that they were up to. Now, they’re gone and eight months ahead of when they were expected to be disbanded, which only speaks again to the abject incompetence of Elon Musk and his peach-fuzzed minions who used to sleep on the floor at work. That was probably the most productive effort that they engaged in, when all is said and done. Daily Beast:
The first few months of Trump’s second term were dominated by DOGE, the agency headed by Musk with a mandate to aggressively downsize the federal workforce and slash government spending. But the failed agency seems to have accomplished little beyond sowing chaos.
Tens of thousands of federal employees fired under Musk’s leadership were offered their jobs back in September after what amounted to monthslong paid vacations. Millions were reportedly lost in interest and fees after government projects were frozen, and some woefully underqualified DOGE staffers were reportedly pocketing six-figure salaries.
The Tesla billionaire ultimately presided over a $220 billion increase in federal spending this fiscal year, excluding interest, The Wall Street Journal reported last month.
A $220 Billion dollar increase in spending. This is from the team that was going to cut all that pork belly and send dividend checks to Americans in the sum of $5,000. And that was for openers. You haven’t seen a dividend check and don’t worry, you won’t.
Additionally, the agency generated some $21.7 billion in waste across the federal government in the first six months of the year, according to a July report from the minority staff of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI).
Musk left DOGE four months after its creation, after his status as a special government employee ended in late May. Shortly after, Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill revealed deep policy disagreements between the two, culminating in personal attacks. It came to a head with Trump threatening the SpaceX founder’s government contracts and Musk firing back by claiming Trump’s name appeared in the so-called “Epstein files.”
Vice President JD Vance and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles are reportedly attempting to repair the fractured bromance between the president and the world’s richest man.
J.D. and Susie can matchmake or counsel all they want, a reconciliation won’t happen. You know why? Because Elon Musk is a bigger bullshitter than Trump is and Trump hates him for that. Trump was hopeful that Musk would pull a rabbit out of a hat and all he did was embarrass himself and embarrass Trump.
Many DOGE staffers are getting second chances of their own, too. While Trump has referred to the agency in the past tense, many of DOGE’s most notable figures have quietly been moved to other federal agencies.
DOGE Administrator Amy Gleason became an adviser to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy in March, Reuters reported. Joe Gebbia, who co-founded Airbnb, now presides over Trump’s newly created National Design Studio, tasked with “beautifying” government websites.
And notably, infamous 19-year-old DOGE employee Edward “Big Balls” Coristine resigned from the agency in the summer and began working at the Social Security Administration.
I don’t know about you but that doesn’t exactly comfort me. Let’s just hope that Big Balls keeps the checks coming monthly, or better yet, is working in some other sector of the SSA away from finance altogether. Let’s hope he’s down in some basement in the bowels of the SSA, cleaning out a filing cabinet or some other task where he can’t blow anything up.
Privatize the profits, socialize the losses.
It’s the republican way.
$21.7 billion dollars in waste?
I wouldn’t be surprised if something like that amount ended up in Mr Musk’s pocket.
DOGE blinked, then got wasted by ETTD. No great loss. What a waste, though!