Here’s what Elon Musk’s DOGE (the Department of Government Efficiency), actually accomplished during his time in that role:
🏛️ 1. Created a Government Efficiency Task Force
- Musk co-led the newly formed DOGE starting in January 2025, intended to restructure the U.S. federal bureaucracy under President Trump. The group was originally a rebranded U.S. Digital Service—with a playful name referencing Dogecoin.Reddit+15Wikipedia+15The New Yorker+15The New Yorker+1NPR+1
💡 2. Proposed Huge Budget Cuts, but Delivered Far Less
- Musk initially targeted up to $2 trillion in government savings. That estimate was later lowered to $1 trillion, and by summer 2025, reported savings tallied around $150–175 billion—approximately 3% of discretionary federal spending.Wikipedia+1Wikipedia+1
- Independent audits flagged exaggerated claims. Only about $60 billion in cuts were verifiably itemized.The New Yorker+1Deseret News+1
🧑⚖️ 3. Overhauled Workforce and Agencies
- DOGE fired or offered buyouts to hundreds of thousands of federal employees, affecting agencies such as USAID, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and the Department of Education. Nearly 60,000 layoffs had been confirmed by late May 2025.Wikipedia+2Deseret News+2The New Yorker+2
- Some essential services and auditing functions were disrupted, drawing widespread criticism.
And after all the harm was done, lives disrupted, false claims ingrained in the minds of believers, services to Americans interrupted – we moved on to adding trillions to the federal deficit over the next several years.
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