Elon Musk initially promised that DOGE would slash $2 trillion in ‘waste, fraud and abuse,’ a goal that was later reduced to $1 trillion

Elon Musk initially promised that DOGE would slash $2 trillion in ‘waste, fraud and abuse,’ a goal that was later reduced to $1 trillion

The world’s richest man, who dramatically exited the White House in May after a public feud with Donald Trump, initially promised that DOGE would slash $2 trillion in “waste, fraud and abuse,” a goal that was later reduced to $1 trillion and eventually $150 billion.

DOGE claimed to have slashed tens of billions of dollars in expenditures, but it was impossible for outside financial experts to verify that because the agency did not provide detailed public accounting of its work.

But analysis by think tanks and The New York Times concluded that, despite DOGE’s claims, spending actually went up in 2025.

  • rafoix@lemmy.zip
    54·
    13 hours ago

    Th point of DOGE was to let a rich dude destroy the parts of the government that were keeping him from breaking labor laws, breaking aviation safety rules, polluting the environment, stealing the personal info of every American and many other things. Saving money was never a goal.

  • FiniteBanjo@feddit.onlineEnglish
    205·
    14 hours ago

    I don’t think DOGE saved the government a dime, but it’s also disingenuous to say he as an unofficial director of DOGE caused the deficit to increase when the majority of the increase is from increased funding for ICE, fossil fuel subsidies, etc.

    • ITeeTechMonkey@lemmy.worldEnglish
      21·
      13 hours ago

      The article doesn’t say DOGE is the cause of the increase of spending. It states that the purpose of DOGE was to reduce waste and cut spending, but federal government spending has gone up in 2025 from 2024.

      This article is stating the obvious, to those who didn’t buy the lies Trump and Musk were selling, but backed up the assertion with financial data.

      • Greyghoster@aussie.zone
        6·
        6 hours ago

        Basically DOGEe was a techbro raid on government to get data and eliminate regulations. Others might call it an insurrection or a coup.

        • ITeeTechMonkey@lemmy.worldEnglish
          3·
          5 hours ago

          How I know you didn’t read the article or your reading comprehension is abysmal:

          "DOGE failed to cut spending because most federal spending was for entitlement programs, where spending remains high due to structural reasons and policy autopilot,” CATO’s analysis continued. “Congress alone has the authority to cut these programs, so it’s unsurprising that DOGE did not reduce spending.”